For immediate release
November 28, 2017
Contact: Ken Quinn, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (207) 713-8700
U.S. Term Limits Praises Rep. Wadsworth for Sponsoring Legislation for an Article V Convention
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering tremendous support from state lawmakers across the nation. Their goal is to call a national term limits convention for the sole purpose of imposing congressional term limits. Maine is a key state in this effort thanks to the work of House Representative Nathan Wadsworth (District 70) who signed USTL’s Article V Term Limits Convention Pledge. The pledge 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.”
Wadsworth didn’t stop there. In addition to signing the pledge, he took action to sponsor a resolution applying to Congress to propose an Article V congressional term limits constitutional amendment convention. “In 1993, the Maine electorate voted to limit the terms of state legislators by a two-thirds margin. If we rise up and force term limits on D.C., that will put the people back in control”, explained Wadsworth.
USTL President, Philip Blumel, commented on Wadsworth’s efforts, saying, “Nathan’s support of term limits shows that there are legislators 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.”
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 to impose 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 a term limits convention,” 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. Representative Wadsworth knows this and is 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.”
View Wadsworth’s signed pledge.
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