[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 59 (Thursday, March 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE TERM LIMITS VOTE--NOTHING MORE THAN A BIG POLITICAL SHOW

  (Mr. MEEHAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks).
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, when I hear Newt Gingrich and the rest of 
the Republican leadership characterize yesterday's vote as historic, it 
makes me laugh. There was nothing historic about the vote yesterday; in 
fact, the whole exercise was nothing more than a big political show 
designed to confuse people into thinking that House Republicans really 
support term limits.
  I have always been skeptical of the legislators who claim they are 
for term limits but have been in office for 15 or 20 years. The best 
test of any politician's credibility on term limits is whether they are 
willing to put their careers where their mouths are and limit their own 
service. Yesterday, when we voted on an immediate term limits 
amendment, only 54 Republicans were willing to support the bill.
  Until recently, I had no real proof that the Republican leadership 
would not work aggressively to pass term limits legislation. Yesterday 
changed that. The party discipline that the Republicans showed when 
cutting school lunches or home heating oil for the elderly and working 
poor was absent on term limits yesterday. If House Republicans really 
wanted to pass term limits they would have allowed a vote on the 
Sanford-Deal statute which would have only required a majority vote for 
passage.
  As someone who has unconditionally supported term limits for all 
Members of Congress--including myself--I viewed yesterday's charade as 
an insult to those of us who really support term limits.
  Most House Republicans do not really support term limits, they just 
like to campaign on them. The public should not be fooled by career 
politicians who claim to be for term limits as long as they do not 
apply to themselves.


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