For immediate release
January 25, 2018
Contact: Scott Tillman, U.S. Term Limits
Phone: (321) 345-7455
stillman@termlimits.org
Alabama Legislature Calls for Convention to Term Limit Congress
Washington, D.C. — The Alabama Legislature has passed an Article V convention application exclusive to the subject of proposing term limits on Congress. This officially makes Alabama second in the nation for passing a successful term limits proposal convention resolution. Florida was the first state to do so.
The resolution, HJR23, passed the State Senate today after the House passed it unanimously last week. The effort was led by Rep. Kerry Rich (HD-26 DeKalb County, Marshall County) and State Sen. Trip Pittman (District 32 Baldwin County). This success is part of a national, nonpartisan movement led by U.S. Term Limits to fight careerism in Washington, D.C.
Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides state legislators with the power to impose term limits on Congress without congressional approval. For the term limits convention to be called, 34 states must pass similar legislation. Once the convention proposes a term limits amendment, 38 states must ratify it for it to be added to the U.S. Constitution. The states can completely bypass Congress in doing so.
According to State Sen. Pittman, “Article V was put into the Constitution by the Founders in order for the people to deal with issues outside of the beltway that the beltway will never deal with.” He continued, “I think it is important for people to be limited in their terms of service. We want a citizen legislature and we need to get to the task of improving the quality of our government in the United States of America.”
The President of U.S. Term Limits, Philip Blumel said “Seventy-five percent of Americans support term limits on Congress, including huge majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. This is a rare, truly nonpartisan issue with national support.” This resolution was supported by both Democrats and Republicans and passed nearly unanimously through both chambers of the legislature.
“Rep. Rich and State Sen. Pittman have been an integral part of the process in Alabama. Their efforts helped make Alabama the second state in the nation to call for a convention for the exclusive purpose of proposing term limits on Congress,” Blumel added. “There are now 11 battleground states we hope will follow Alabama and Florida’s lead, and the progress here has laid the groundwork for their success.”
In addition to Alabama, the group is also targeting Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont, Texas, Tennessee and Utah.
For more information on U.S. Term Limits, please visit termlimits.org.
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