To: Democratic Party, Republican Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
CITIZENS' AMENDMENT: Amend the Constitution to Place Term Limits on Members of Congress
The 2016 election has been dominated by candidates who are promising to do the work of the American people. Candidates claim to want to make America great, revolutionize politics, be the peoples' champion. With such a focus on people and progress, more and more American people are being pulled into the political process and are expressing disdain, distrust, and disgust with the way the government operates. The government operates to serve itself and people in all levels of politics live in an isolated bubble that prevents them from understanding real hardship and pain and prevents them from sitting down to compromise and get things done. While much attention has been placed on the Presidential race, reforming the way Congress does business is even more critical than the woman or man who will be our country's next leader. Congress makes the laws. Congress is the body of people that we elect to represent our communities. They owe us explanations and must always be held accountable.
Congress, however, is broken. The sad truth is that it is so broken that it no longer pretends to do the will of the people, and often devolves into make-believe partisan bickering that is merely a distraction from real issues, real challenges, and very real corruption. Members of Congress are out of touch with the American people, intentionally. They do not represent us. They don't try to represent us. They've stopped acting as though the care about representing us, unless it is for a thirty-second sound-clip, popular hashtag, or stunt to gain media attention. They represent special interest groups, wealthy campaign contributors, corporations, lobbyists, and other immoral and dishonest groups that seek to make Congress a playground of the wealthy and the well-connected. They make fools of us when they strike deals behind closed doors in exchange for campaign donations, kickbacks, or special favors. WE make fools of ourselves when we let them do this.
Whenever we fight over important issues without sitting back and demanding compromise, they win.
Whenever we bicker over really emotional and really complex crises and insult our fellow citizens, they win.
Whenever we sit back and say we distrust Congress more than any other group, but vote in the VERY SAME Representatives and Senators, they win.
Whenever we focus on pettiness and let the media distract us from their blatant disregard for our views and our sovereignty as the people of the United States, they win.
It is time to impose sensible term limits on members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Not by law and not by asking. It is time that we DEMAND that members of Congress enshrine this in the Constitution.
This petition calls on members of Congress to vote on and approve a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on members of the House and the Senate. This petition also calls on the two major parties (the Democrats and Republicans), the two growing minor parties (the Libertarians and the Green Party) and all other political parties to make amending the Constitution to impose term limits a part of their platforms that they adopt at their conventions and support on the campaign trail. Finally, this petition calls on all major party and minor party nominees and "presumptive nominees" to add term limits to their individual campaign platforms.
This petition recommends the following:
Imposing a five-term (10-year) limit on Members of the House of Representatives and;
Imposing a two-term (12-year) limit on Members of the Senate.
This petition recommends the following language be used as working-text for the proposed Constitutional Amendment:
Section 1. No person shall be eligible to serve more than 8 years in the United States House of Representatives.
Section 2. No person shall be eligible to serve more than 12 years in the United States Senate.
Section 3. No term of any person serving in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate, at the time of the ratification of this Amendment, shall be taken into account.
Section 4. The Congress shall have the power to reduce the number of years that a Person is eligible to serve in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
Section 5. The Congress may not increase the number of years that a Person is eligible to serve in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate."
You, the Members of Congress, owe use this. Because WE, the People of the United States, are sovereign. We are tired of your corruption, inefficiency, your scandals, and your inability to do your jobs. WE the People demand change.
Congress, however, is broken. The sad truth is that it is so broken that it no longer pretends to do the will of the people, and often devolves into make-believe partisan bickering that is merely a distraction from real issues, real challenges, and very real corruption. Members of Congress are out of touch with the American people, intentionally. They do not represent us. They don't try to represent us. They've stopped acting as though the care about representing us, unless it is for a thirty-second sound-clip, popular hashtag, or stunt to gain media attention. They represent special interest groups, wealthy campaign contributors, corporations, lobbyists, and other immoral and dishonest groups that seek to make Congress a playground of the wealthy and the well-connected. They make fools of us when they strike deals behind closed doors in exchange for campaign donations, kickbacks, or special favors. WE make fools of ourselves when we let them do this.
Whenever we fight over important issues without sitting back and demanding compromise, they win.
Whenever we bicker over really emotional and really complex crises and insult our fellow citizens, they win.
Whenever we sit back and say we distrust Congress more than any other group, but vote in the VERY SAME Representatives and Senators, they win.
Whenever we focus on pettiness and let the media distract us from their blatant disregard for our views and our sovereignty as the people of the United States, they win.
It is time to impose sensible term limits on members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Not by law and not by asking. It is time that we DEMAND that members of Congress enshrine this in the Constitution.
This petition calls on members of Congress to vote on and approve a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on members of the House and the Senate. This petition also calls on the two major parties (the Democrats and Republicans), the two growing minor parties (the Libertarians and the Green Party) and all other political parties to make amending the Constitution to impose term limits a part of their platforms that they adopt at their conventions and support on the campaign trail. Finally, this petition calls on all major party and minor party nominees and "presumptive nominees" to add term limits to their individual campaign platforms.
This petition recommends the following:
Imposing a five-term (10-year) limit on Members of the House of Representatives and;
Imposing a two-term (12-year) limit on Members of the Senate.
This petition recommends the following language be used as working-text for the proposed Constitutional Amendment:
Section 1. No person shall be eligible to serve more than 8 years in the United States House of Representatives.
Section 2. No person shall be eligible to serve more than 12 years in the United States Senate.
Section 3. No term of any person serving in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate, at the time of the ratification of this Amendment, shall be taken into account.
Section 4. The Congress shall have the power to reduce the number of years that a Person is eligible to serve in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate.
Section 5. The Congress may not increase the number of years that a Person is eligible to serve in the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate."
You, the Members of Congress, owe use this. Because WE, the People of the United States, are sovereign. We are tired of your corruption, inefficiency, your scandals, and your inability to do your jobs. WE the People demand change.
Why is this important?
This petition is very personal to me, and I believe it is critical for the American people. I grew up loving politics, government, the rule of law, the idea of democracy, and the idea of civic engagement and public service. I believed that good people could make good laws and that the People could come together to take care of one another and to make sure our country always headed in a direction of process and prosperity.
This system is more personal to me, now, as a teacher. How can I tell my students that history is what you make of it and that we live in a country that is governed "by the people" and "for the people" when it clearly is not.
The system is rigged. It is rigged against every citizen. It is rigged in favor of those who are well-connected and those at the "top" use every trick and every ploy to make us forget that it is they who rigged the system in the first place. They use media, scare-tactics, excuses, war-mongering, inflammatory rhetoric, faulty promises, and blatant lies to convince us that we should fight among ourselves. They convince us that we should fight for bread crumbs when they're the ones who get the lion's share.
If we are to promise that any child can grow up to be President or that any child can change the world, then it is time to make the Congress the People's Congress and end era after era of corruption, abuse, and deception.
This petition is for every American citizen. It's time to end this. It's time to take back our government and our country. It's time to work together to achieve real results.
This system is more personal to me, now, as a teacher. How can I tell my students that history is what you make of it and that we live in a country that is governed "by the people" and "for the people" when it clearly is not.
The system is rigged. It is rigged against every citizen. It is rigged in favor of those who are well-connected and those at the "top" use every trick and every ploy to make us forget that it is they who rigged the system in the first place. They use media, scare-tactics, excuses, war-mongering, inflammatory rhetoric, faulty promises, and blatant lies to convince us that we should fight among ourselves. They convince us that we should fight for bread crumbs when they're the ones who get the lion's share.
If we are to promise that any child can grow up to be President or that any child can change the world, then it is time to make the Congress the People's Congress and end era after era of corruption, abuse, and deception.
This petition is for every American citizen. It's time to end this. It's time to take back our government and our country. It's time to work together to achieve real results.