Joe Barton: “I am a sincere supporter of term limits. I think the Dingell-Barton amendment is the closest to the spirit of the…”

“I am a sincere supporter of term limits. I think the Dingell-Barton amendment is the closest to the spirit of the people. In my town meetings and in my public meetings with constituents, they are very adamant that the problem they are attempting to solve is the problem of entrenched incumbency, especially Congressmen and Congresswomen who serve a long tenure in Washington and are out of touch with their constituencies. The way to address that is through a retroactivity clause. Members can argue whether they want three 2-year terms in the House or six 2-year terms, or two 4-year terms, but I do not think they can argue this. If they support term limits, they should support that they be retroactive, so we can go at the problem immediately, which is incumbents who are out of touch. The Dingell-Barton amendment does that. If it were to pass and be ratified, whenever it was ratified, anybody who had served 6 years prior to their current term or were in their sixth term would not be eligible for reelection immediately. It is that simple. It is a sincere attempt to address the problem the people want addressed, which is removing an entrenched incumbency that is out of touch in Washington, DC.”