Chuck Grassley: “I rise today in support of term limits. By overwhelming margins, the American people support term limits for Members of…”

“I rise today in support of term limits. By overwhelming margins, the American people support term limits for Members of Congress. In a democratic society, the people's elected officials have a responsibility to respond to what the people want. Of course, we in Washington have a duty to exercise leadership-- but leadership means responding to the strongly held preferences of the American people. Although there is a long history both at the State and Federal levels in limiting the service of executives, term limits for legislators have a short history. So, we are participating in a work in progress when we debate this amendment. It may be that term limits enhance the power of lobbyists, as some say, or term limits may lessen the power of lobbyists. Term limits may weaken the legislative branch or they may strengthen it. Term limits may cause the loss of valuable experience or it may lead to passage of reform legislation. There's no way to tell at this point. But with fresh faces with new ideas in Congress, it seems to me that reform and common sense change are far more likely. And of course, the Constitution was made to be amendable. Since 1791, we have amended the Constitution 17 times. Each of these amendments brought about significant changes in the nature of American Government. Similarly, I believe that a term limits amendment will make needed and beneficial changes.”