[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 29, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E733-E734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       TERM LIMITS ARE NEEDED TO ASSURE A REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC

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                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 29, 1995
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, this first-ever debate and vote on term limits 
is an exciting, even historic, moment.
  As a term limits advocate since the mid-1970's, and as a 
Representative from California, whose voters were one of the first to 
pass term limits, I say it is about time that the people's 
Representatives in this House do what is right and pass term limits.
  [[Page E734]] Four years ago less than 33 Representatives supported 
term limits. Two years ago, the number remained under 110. This week we 
will see at least 220 Members vote for term limits. That is amazing 
progress, and we should all hail the accomplishments of the grassroots 
activists who have driven this change. Our need is 290 Members, the 
two-thirds required to pass an amendment to the Constitution.
  In 1990, California passed term limits on its state legislative 
representatives. Two years later, the people of California voted in 
favor of term limits on congressional representatives. This was the 
reaction of voters who had clearly tired of career politicians who lost 
touch with the concerns of the average Californian and of voters fed up 
with a corrupt incumbent-protecting campaign finance process.
  The Term Limits Institute has compiled some revealing numbers: 
despite the revolutionary change in the 1992 and 1994 elections, 
incumbents running for reelection still won over 90 percent of the 
time. In addition, the average tenure of Democratic committee chairman 
in the last session of Congress was 28 years. As a new Member in 1993, 
I was part of a group that sought and won the fight in the Republican 
Conference to limit the terms of the ranking Republican on a committee 
to a total of 6 consecutive years. That precedent applies to the 
committee chairs of the Republican majority. In addition, we limited 
the Speaker to a total of 8 years in that office.
  The simple fact is that we must end the days of career politicians. 
The elections last November were revolutionary, but they also proved 
that being the incumbent is still the best guarantee of success in an 
election. The incumbent advantage may be weakened, but it remains alive 
and well. Challengers do not have a competitive level campaign funding, 
nor can challengers use taxpayer-funded franked mail to send out 
thousands of pieces of mail touting the incumbent's accomplishments.
  In the 1980's under an apportionment which could charitably be 
described as ``rotten,'' the Democratic controlled California 
Legislature provided ``safe'' seats for Democrats and Republicans. In 
that decade, there were 450 congressional elections primary and 
general. In those 450 elections, one Republican was defeated in a 
primary by another Republican [1988] and two Democrats and one 
Republican were defeated in the general election of 1990. We do need 
term limits.
  Term limits are a vital first step toward congressional and campaign 
reform. Remember, however, that they are only a first step. In the last 
session of Congress, the Republican Conference endorsed a strong, bold 
plan to reform our system of campaign finance. Our plan shattered the 
control of Washington-based special interest groups and returned 
control of election financing to where it belongs in the hands of the 
voters. Our plan included restrictions on soft money. Our plan included 
a complete ban on Political Action Committees. And our plan required 
congressional candidates to raise a majority of their campaign money 
from the people who should really matter: the voters in each 
congressional district. I hope that we will see the passage of step one 
on the road to real campaign and congressional reform: term limits. 
Hopefully, it will not be too long after the first 100 days are over 
that we will see campaign finance reform debated and voted upon in this 
House.
  Let us celebrate this historic first vote on term limits, but do not 
let us say this is the final step on the reform road. We must continue 
to work to return control of this Congress to the people who live and 
vote in our districts.


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