Rep. Brian Taylor, a member of the New Hampshire House representing Carroll 8, has pledged to support term limits for members of Congress by signing the U.S. Term Limits (USTL) convention pledge. The pledge commits state legislators to cosponsor, vote for, and defend a resolution that calls for an Article V convention with the specific purpose of enacting congressional term limits.
U.S. Term Limits is seeking support from lawmakers in states across the country to reach the threshold required to convene such a convention. The organization aims to have 34 states apply for this amendment proposal convention focused solely on congressional term limits.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits in 1995 determined that only a Constitutional Amendment could establish term limits for federal legislators. Nick Tomboulides, Chief Executive Officer of USTL, explained that “the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.”
Tomboulides stated: “The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states. While we’d like for Congress to take the high road and propose term limits on itself, we know they are too self-interested to do that without external pressure.” He added, “That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators… Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.”
He also noted: “More than 87% 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. Brian knows this and is willing to work to make sure we reach our goal.”
A recent Pew Research poll found broad bipartisan support for congressional term limits among American adults; according to Pew’s analysis, “An overwhelming majority of adults (87%) favor limiting the number of terms that members of Congress are allowed to serve. This includes a majority 56% who strongly favor this proposal, just 12% are opposed.”
U.S. Term Limits describes itself as a nonpartisan nonprofit focused exclusively on establishing legislative term limits at the federal level and does not endorse individual candidates.
