Dale Bumpers: “I think that I may be the first person today to speak against this resolution, but let me say, first of all, I am…”

“I think that I may be the first person today to speak against this resolution, but let me say, first of all, I am delighted to do so. It is, admittedly, a freebie. You can vote for it in the absolute certainty that it is going nowhere, and you can send out your newsletters and press releases and tell your constituents that you did your best. I have heard a lot of speakers this afternoon say, ``Well, this is popular with the American people.'' Slavery was once popular also, but I don't hear any of my colleagues arguing that slavery was a good idea. Prohibition was also once popular. Do you know what we got out of prohibition because it was popular? Organized crime, and that is all we got out of prohibition. Organized crime is still ensconced as part of our society because we voted for a constitutional amendment because it was popular. In my State of Arkansas in 1992 the voters approved term limits, by a 60-40 margin, for both State and Federal officers. As you know, the Supreme Court, by a very narrow vote of 5 to 4, ruled that the people of Arkansas did not have the right to limit the terms of Federal officials which had been set by the Constitution. It is still in effect. Interestingly, while 60 percent of the voters of Arkansas were voting by a 60-percent margin for term limits, they reelected me to a fourth term by a margin of 60 percent. You can only conclude that it is all those other guys who they are wanting to get rid of.”