Utah State Senator Dr. Brian Zehnder signs U.S. Term Limits pledge
By Scott Tillman
Utah State Senator Dr. Brian Zehnder (District 8) has committed his support for term limits on Congress by signing the Article V U.S. Term Limits Convention Pledge. U.S. Term Limits, or USTL, the leader in the national movement to limit terms for elected officials, is currently gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specifically to enact term limits on Congress.
“Brian’s support of term limits shows that there are lawmakers who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians,” said USTL president Philip Blumel. “America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”
The U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge is provided to candidates and members of the state legislatures. It reads, “I pledge that as a member of the state legislature, I will support and vote for the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.”
In the 1995 case Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, executive director of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.
“The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either three fourths of Congress or three fourths of the states. While we’d like for Congress to take the high road and impose limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a convention of states,” claims Tomboulides. “That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators,” he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.
“More than 82 percent of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership,” Blumel said. “The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment.”
According to the last nationwide poll on term limits conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, conducted in January 2018, term limits enjoys wide bipartisan support.
“Support for term limits is broad and strong across all political, geographic and demographic groups,” McLaughlin’s analysis states. “An overwhelming 82 percent of voters approve of a Constitutional Amendment that will place term limits on members of Congress.”
View Zehnder’s signed pledge here.
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