Congressional Term Limits

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague, particularly for not recounting the events of that game. But we are here, Mr. Speaker, to talk about a very important issue to our country and to all of us.

Prior to my election to Congress last December, for nearly 20 years, I practiced primarily in the arena of constitutional law. I had the great privilege of litigating often high-profile cases around the country, defending religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and traditional American values.

I deeply revere our matchless Constitution, and I fought to defend its application according to its plain language and its original intent. I believe our Founding Fathers were divinely inspired to draft our extraordinary founding documents just as they did and to establish for us the framework of a free Republic. It has been the model for, and the envy of, the other nations of the world since its creation.

America is different. America is exceptional. And we are, as the Gipper used to say, ``the shining city upon a hill,'' citing scripture, and ``the last, best hope of man on the Earth.''

For all their merits, however, even the original provisions of the Constitution are sometimes appropriate for modification by the people.

The Founders understood this. They recognized that, in spite of their great wisdom, they could not foresee every future contingency and change in our society and our government. So they provided us an orderly process to amend our great Constitution.

I am one who believes the time has come to end a term limits provision, precisely because the form and function of so many aspects of our Federal Government have evolved today into something the Founders could never have imagined two centuries ago.

First, I believe the Founders assumed, I think they assumed that there would be a regular turnover of Federal officeholders. Why do we say that? Well, one of our seminal and foundational principles is the limitation and the separation of powers. It is one of the things that makes us unique in the way that we have set up our government.

The Founders incorporated terms of service and staggered service in the U.S. Senate. Of course, they could have instituted term limits back then, but I think they believed that it was unnecessary.

Look at the statistics of the Founders' era. The rate of reelection and return to Congress back then was roughly 50 percent. You just heard my learned colleague from Nebraska report to you here that the last election cycle, it is much, much higher. Now, in America, the rate of reelection and return to Congress is 97 percent. That is not something I think that the Founders would have ever imagined.

Today, we also have fewer and fewer marginal districts. Incumbents often win by landslides because they have such huge advantages in terms of growing financial support, modern media exposure, and constituent service operations.

Another modern phenomena is that studies show Members tend to support more and more government spending the longer they serve in Congress, and this is true across the political spectrum. That has created a real problem, because the Federal Government has grown so very large now as a result of all that spending. Its scope and power is just simply exponentially greater now than it was in the Founders' era.

At the same time, accountability has gradually decreased over the years as the growing bureaucracy has developed into a sort of fourth branch of government. Over the past several decades, a growing class of nameless, faceless bureaucrats have been allowed to absorb and handle more and more of the authority and to handle more and more of the contentious and most consequential issues that face our Nation.

The problem is the bureaucrats never have to face or answer to the voters. Many who have served in Congress for many decades have become part of what we now refer to as America's professional political class.

Those Members have gradually become more detached, and some have fully lost touch with the real concerns of the citizens they represent.

Due to the busy schedule here, Members of Congress now spend far more time in the beltway than they did in the founding era for certain. And one has to strive much harder now to be at home as often as necessary to keep in touch with the folks that all of us represent.

For many, when they are here a long time, their ideals tend to grow old with time, their energy often wanes, and ideas naturally get stale.

There is much to be said for fresh faces. In my home State of Louisiana, we instituted term limits in our State
legislature several years ago. I had the honor of serving there for a short time before I came to Congress. And I can testify today, from my own experience, that the turnover process in the Louisiana legislature has been a very healthy thing for our State. There are new faces, new ideas, and new approaches to problems that have beset our State for generations.

As in a State legislature, a term limited Member of Congress would be more willing to do a number of things, including act quickly to fix problems, rather than merely manage them or delegate broad powers to the executive branch and the bureaucracy. They would be more willing to question bureaucracies and the old-established programs. And I think they would naturally enjoy greater independence. Logic simply tells us that term limits would also allow for a greater diversity of people, ideas, and backgrounds in Congress, naturally evolving this legislative body into one that more closely reflects the people and the actual demographics of our Nation, as I think the Congress did in the Founders' era.

Today, there is a real bipartisan disappointment about Congress and its dysfunction. Thankfully, our new President has taken determined steps toward addressing this issue. Some of these actions have already greatly upset Washington and the politically established. But these changes are important because the transparent and accessible government is the very basis of a democracy.

This is why I have made this one of my top priorities while in Congress. I congratulate all of my colleagues who joined me in that resolve. I truly believe the future of our government and how it is run depends upon how we handle important issues like this.

We need to look no further than our last Presidential election to see how out of touch the people believe that Washington can be. Polls say that between 75 and 80 percent of the American people right now support term limits for Congress, and I also believe that it is the right move for our Nation. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think we have reached that point.

Let's give the people a chance to decide this important matter. Let's go through the constitutional amendment process. Let's put it to a vote of the elected representatives of the people. And let us return to the ideals of accountability, selfless public service, and the model of the citizen legislator.

I will continue to push for reforms in our government and combat corruption and D.C. cronyism as long as I am here. Our Founders intended our government was to be one of the people, by the people, and for the people, as Lincoln famously said. Imposing congressional term limits will help restore that foundational principle, and it will send a strong message to our children and future generations that America is still a country that puts national interests above personal agenda.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source