Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville pressing Congress for vote on term limits
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Eye on Politics
Paul DeMarco
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubeville has raised an issue discussed for decades in Washington, D.C. – term limits.
Tuberville recently singed on to a Constitutional Amendment that would require term limits for U.S. senators and congressmen. He says that when politicians come to Washington, D.C., they become part of the bureaucracy when they stay and never give up their office.
Tuberville wants Congress to be more reflective of the American public by restricting the number of terms senators and representatives can serve in Congress. Senate Joint Resolution 2, if passed by Congress and ratified by the states, would limit representatives to three terms or six years and senators to two terms or 12 years.
There will be the career politicians in Washington, D.C., who oppose this Constitutional Amendment, so we will see if Tuberville is able to get this resolution up for debate and a vote. Interestingly, as part of the recent leadership election for speaker in the U.S. House of Representatives, there was a commitment to vote on term limits, as well.
Polling has shown that an overwhelming number of Americans support term limits for members of Congress. Alabama citizens would certainly support this legislation if it cleared Congress and was ever up for a vote here.
We see promises by candidates for Congress to term limit themselves every election cycle. As Sen. Tuberville has advocated, we will see if they will put their money where their mouth is with these votes.
Paul DeMarco is a former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and can be found on Twitter at @Paul_DeMarco.