The Time Has Come

It is time the American people insisted on term limits of members of congress and effectively rid ourselves of the professional politician. Under the present system the Senators and Representatives maintain a presence in Washington so long they forget the people who sent them there. They become enamored of their own importance, begin seeking their own enrichment and become the pawns of influential lobbyists.
At the present time 27 Senators have served in the senate for terms of over 18 years. Of the nine Missouri Representatives in the House, only two have served for less than eight years, one has served 22 years and another for 16.
With the seniority system followed in both bodies, the most powerful committee chairmanships are assigned to these long-term members of the majority party, be they Democrat or Republican. The president pro tempore of the Senate is traditionally given to the most senior member of the majority party. Currently that is Sen. Byrd of W. Va. who has been in the senate for 50 years. This longevity and the subsequent placement of power in the care of the few perennial members of the bodies leads to misuse of authority and in the extreme case, corruption of the office. History has shown that members of either body who gain positions of great influence within the government often become involved in illicit affaires, influence peddling, bribery and other malfeasance of office. Practically all long tenured members tend to lose touch with the wishes and desires of the people who sent them to Washington and begin legislating not for the good of the people but for their own grandioseness. The recent Town Hall meetings held in conjunction with the proposed health care reform gave vivid proof of this.
The twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution imposes a limit of two terms upon the office of the President. I propose the same limitation be placed upon Senators and Representatives. Senators should be limited to two terms of 6 years each and Representatives should be limited to two consecutive 4-year terms. Senatorial elections would be as they are now, with 1/3 of the members being elected every two years. The members of the house would be elected every 4 years, as is the President and Vice-President. This latter provision would mean that Representatives spend less time campaigning and more time tending to the nation’s business.
The amendment would be as follows:
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the Senate or House of Reprentatives more than twice.. A person holding the position of Senator or Representative at the time this amendment becomes effective may complete his/her current term of office and may stand for election to one additional full term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.