by USTL Staff
Regardless of where you stand on the issues, current events demonstrate the turmoil taking place in Congress. Congress is nothing more than a dog and pony show. Career politicians hell bent on discrediting each other, manipulating issues to their benefit, and finger pointing insisting the other is the bad actor. U.S. Term Limits’s sole focus is term limiting Congress to stomp out the chaos and corruption in Washington.
Between September 12, 2023 and October 3, 2023, we witnessed an egregious, polarized, and chaotic Congress in action. Upon Congress’s return to D.C. on September 12, Speaker Kevin McCarthy directed the House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Six days later, after a long delay, a budget blueprint was released to the House for consideration, to no avail. One day later, the Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing on HJR11.
Members opposed to the resolution seized the opportunity to get their best sound bites on the record. Rep. Harriet Hageman criticized members in support of term limits, expressing her disgust for what she considered to be the “true bureaucrats” in Washington, the employees of various federal agencies. According to Hageman federal employees should be term limited, not legislators.
Although the opposition in the subcommittee was strong, resolution HJR11 was forwarded to the full Judiciary Committee for review. During both hearings, several members used their time to rail against term limits, ignoring the will of 87% of Americans who support ending career politicians in D.C.
On September 28, 2023, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing in decades on the subject of congressional term limits. Resolution HJR11 was defeated, with the defeat coming from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Cohen and others decided to make the term limits hearing about the “hooey” going on in the House. That’s right. His discussion was mostly about the impeachment of President Biden and what he called “The Republican Shutdown.” Most of his testimony had absolutely nothing to do with term limits on Congress… except to say that “people” tell him to never retire.
With Congress’s approval rating at 17% and in a time when media reports on term limits and age limits are omnipresent, these clueless bureaucrats maintain Congress is just fine the way it is… a nursing home rife with dysfunction and scandal.
The hearings and sound bites are evidence that Congress is ineffective and useless in limiting its own power. That is why resolutions filed in the U.S. House and Senate are only a tactic we use and not the ultimate strategy. Our state-based campaign is essential in pressuring Congress to set congressional term limits. As more and more states pass term limits convention resolutions, we will be able to box Congress into a corner and force their hand.
The defeat of HJR11 in the House Judiciary Committee on September 28 is not a loss. It is a positive, as it showcased the issue and reaffirmed that Congress will not propose this amendment without outside pressure. It is a motivational win. U.S. Term Limits and our supporters are more resolved in putting an end to career politicians.
This latest congressional session ended with a 216 to 210 vote on October 3rd removing Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. No passage of a budget and thousands of Americans left in limbo as to the financial direction of the country, and even more importantly, left in uncertainty of their own financial survival.
Term limits are essential in correcting the course of the country. Congress needs to hear from Americans. To be specific, they need to hear from the 87% of Americans supporting term limits. Today send a clear and concise message to your representative indicating the following:
- Americans see a Congress in chaos and will take the steps necessary to correct Congress’s course.
- Call your representative instructing them to vote for a pro-term limits champion in the upcoming Speaker of the House vote.
- Inform your representative that your 2024 vote on both the federal and state levels will be based upon a candidate’s support of term limits.
- Reaffirm your support for congressional term limits and commitment to support of your state legislature to pass term limits resolutions for congressional term limits.