Support Term Limits for Members of Congress, H.J.Res. 12

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the amendment to the United States Constitution to limit the number of terms Members of the House and Senate can serve, H.J.Res. 12, introduced by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). The amendment already has an impressive list of 21 cosponsors.

The constitutional amendment proposed by Rep. Norman would limit the number of terms a Member of the House can serve to three. Senators would be limited to two terms. Members of the House or Senate who fill a vacancy and serve more than half a term — more than one year for a representative and more than three years for a senator — will have that counted as one term toward their total terms in office. No terms that began before the date of ratification would be counted. This presents a fair and effective way to implement reasonable term limits.

After a year like 2020, where real legislating took a back seat to leadership preferences, and bills thousands of pages long were passed with little to no scrutiny, Americans caught onto the tricks of Congress. During the passage of the end-of-year spending bill just last month, social media erupted with everyday citizens opining about the absurd policies, spending, and pet provisions included as part of the same bill with COVID relief. Career politicians think they can get away with legislating by crisis, but the clock is ticking as Americans wise up to their power games.

It is clearer than ever that citizens both want and need change in Washington. This common sense amendment will ensure that. Having the same people in office year after year creates a cycle that is hard to break and that needs to be refreshed. Term limits would not only refresh the cycle, but they would also address a dysfunction in the structure of our federal government.

Thomas Jefferson said the omission of term limits in the Constitution was what he saw as the biggest problem with the founding document. Polling by McLaughlin and Associates revealed that an overwhelming 82 percent of voters want Congress to enact term limits.

Americans deserve representation in Washington that serves their best interests, not that serves the best interests of the special interests and lobbies that have garnered influence with members term after term and decade after decade. I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor H.J.Res. 12, the constitutional amendment to term limit members of Congress.

Sincerely, Adam Brandon, President, FreedomWorks