For immediate release
November 29, 2017
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national movement to limit terms for elected officials, is currently gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation, for a term limits convention to enact congressional term limits and Maine is one of the states they are targeting. This week, Maine State House Representatives Lawrence Lockman (District 137), Karen Gerrish (District 20), and Heidi Sampson (District 21), signed the Article V Term Limits Convention Pledge. Rep. Nathan Wadsworth (District 70) sponsored the Term Limits Article V resolution in the Maine House.
USTL President, Philip Blumel, commented on the emerging support, saying, “The gaining support of term limits in the Maine Legislature shows that there are candidates who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”
The U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge is provided to candidates and members of the state legislatures. It reads, “I pledge that as a member of the state legislature, I will support and vote for the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.”
In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, Executive Director of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on congress is through an Article V Convention of state legislatures. “While we’d like for Congress to take the high road and impose limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a convention of states,” claims Tomboulides. “That is why it is important to get support from state legislators,” he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.
Blumel noted, “More than 75% of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. These Maine legislators know this and are willing to work to make sure we reach our goal.”
According to the last nationwide poll on term limits conducted by Gallup, the issue enjoys wide bipartisan support. The results demonstrate that 75% of Americans support congressional term limits. Gallup’s analysis states, “Republicans and Independents are slightly more likely than Democrats to favor term limits; nevertheless, the vast majority of all party groups agree on the issue. Further, Gallup finds no generational differences in support for the proposal.”
