[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 198 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 198

To require a national nonbinding referendum at the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office in 2020 to advise Congress on term 
        limits for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 3, 2019

  Mr. Norman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require a national nonbinding referendum at the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office in 2020 to advise Congress on term 
        limits for Members of Congress, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Voter Opportunity To Inform 
Congress Effectively on Term Limits Act of 2019'' or the ``V.O.I.C.E. 
on Term Limits Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the right of citizens of the United States to vote is a 
        fundamental right;
            (2) the right of citizens of the United States to have an 
        effective voice in the decision-making processes of the 
        Congress is grounded in the right to petition and is a 
        fundamental part of American democracy;
            (3) Congress should provide an opportunity for citizens to 
        express their views on important public issues;
            (4) there is an increasing public sentiment and demand for 
        limiting the terms of Members of Congress; and
            (5) voters in 15 States have already voted and approved 
        State laws to limit the terms of their state legislators, and 
        voters in other States have expressed their interest in having 
        term limits for Members of Congress.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to give the citizens of every State the opportunity to 
        express their opinion on whether or not the terms of Members of 
        Congress should be limited; and
            (2) to conduct a national nonbinding referendum on term 
        limits at the 2020 general election, thereby having an 
        opportunity to study the feasibility of conducting national 
        nonbinding referenda on other important issues in the future.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL NONBINDING REFERENDUM ON TERM LIMITS.

    (a) Nonbinding Referendum Required.--The chief election official of 
each State, in the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office in 2020, shall place on the ballot in each congressional 
district in the State a nonbinding referendum consisting of the 
following:
            (1) The title ``National Advisory Referendum on Term 
        Limits''.
            (2) The advisory question ``Should Congress approve a 
        constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms that a 
        Member of the United States House of Representatives and United 
        States Senator can serve in office?''.
            (3) The options of answering ``Yes'' or ``No''.
    (b) Procedures for Nonbinding Referendum.--Each chief election 
official of a State shall ensure that the nonbinding referendum is 
conducted in the same manner as an election for Federal office in such 
State, including with respect to the printing, preparation, tabulation, 
and certification of ballots.
    (c) Results of Nonbinding Referendum.--The chief election official 
of each State shall--
            (1) tabulate the results of the nonbinding referendum for 
        each congressional district in the State and on a statewide 
        basis; and
            (2) certify and transmit such results to Congress in the 
        same manner and at the same time of the certification of 
        election of Members of the House of Representatives and Senate 
        for the regularly scheduled 2020 general election.
    (d) Recommendations.--
            (1) Chief state election officials.--Not later than 90 days 
        after the date of the regularly scheduled general election for 
        Federal office in 2020, the chief election official of each 
        State shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the 
        House of Representatives and the Senate comments with respect 
        to recommended changes or other improvements related to the 
        conduct of the nonbinding referendum, for consideration in 
        conducting national nonbinding referenda on other issues in 
        future general elections for Federal office.
            (2) Committees on the judiciary of the house and senate.--
        Not later than 6 months after the date of the regularly 
        scheduled general election for Federal office in 2020, the 
        Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and 
        the Senate shall prepare and report to the House and Senate, 
        respectively, recommendations with respect to the response of 
        Congress to the results of the nonbinding referendum.
    (e) Reimbursement.--
            (1) In general.--The Election Assistance Commission shall 
        reimburse an eligible State for the reasonable costs incurred 
        by the State to conduct the nonbinding referendum.
            (2) Eligibility.--To be eligible for reimbursement under 
        paragraph (1), a State shall submit to the Election Assistance 
        Commission an application at such time, in such form, and 
        containing such information as the Commission may require.
    (f) Applicability of Related Federal Laws to Nonbinding 
Referendum.--All Federal laws which apply to an election for Federal 
office shall apply to the nonbinding referendum.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Congressional district.--The term ``congressional 
        district'' includes the district of a Delegate or Resident 
        Commissioner to the Congress.
            (2) Nonbinding referendum.--The term ``nonbinding 
        referendum'' means the referendum required by section 4(a) of 
        this Act.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' includes the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of 
        the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
        Virgin Islands of the United States.
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