Congressional Term Limitations

In our nation, those who obtain power through the electoral process have substantial authority in making decisions that will ultimately impact the entire country. We, the people, have the perspicacious challenge of choosing those who will make the decisions up on good old Capitol Hill. Although we do chose who we want to run the show and make the big decisions, we cannot control the actions and conscientiousness of those officials. Unbeknownst to most in our country, those who seem to want what is best for the country as a whole have more selfish intentions that are unseen during the campaigning process. There is a reason why the President has been limited to two terms: we do not want our national government to become one that is administrated …show more content…
As a matter of fact, congressional term limit legislation was actually proposed in 1994 in the “Citizen Legislature Act” proposal which was introduced by then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and other Republican leaders (Mullikin). Other than the aforementioned instance, term limitation related legislation has been proposed several other times, but was never actually voted for in either house of Congress. The simple problem with any type of restrictive legislation is that the people who are voting on the legislation are the ones who will end up being affected by it when all is said and done. The recurring issue when proposing anything that may limit Congress members is the fact that relinquishing power is something that they are not very good at. As a matter of fact, as of 2016, there are 13 members of Congress that have served over 36 years in Congress and are still serving currently. To put it in perspective, these select people have had some role in the leadership of our country since at least the days of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Former President Harry Truman once said that it is impossible to become rich in politics unless you are a crook. By allowing career politicians the ability to stay in office for as long as they desire, we are essentially allowing our country to be guided by crooks who, for the most part, only seek personal …show more content…
Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, has been somewhat of a bright light in the dark chasm that is Capitol Hill as far as term limitation is concerned. He is firmly behind the idea of Congressional term limitation and is genuinely convinced that the entirety of Capitol Hill is corrupt. In 2015, Cruz was quoted as saying”…career politicians today make up what I call the Washington Cartel… (they) on a daily basis are conspiring against the American people.” Furthering his stance on political corruptness, Cruz also states that “Career politicians’ ears and wallets are open to the highest bidder (Schwarz).” To bluntly sum up Cruz’s statement, it is his belief that the American people are being scammed by the men and women they voted for. Probably the most intimidating part of his statement is the fact that he is addressing people he has been working with for some time. Perhaps if Mr. Cruz were to persuade some of the other younger members of Congress to see what he envisions, the Amendment would be able to see the light of