Every two years, Americans hear the same promise: This will be a change election. Voters will send Washington a message, and Congress will finally work differently.
Then the election ends, and Washington looks remarkably familiar.
Parties may trade power, but Congress remains dominated by incumbents, many of whom spend decades in office. Even historic wave elections rarely dislodge them. In 1932, during the Great Depression, roughly one-third of House incumbents seeking reelection lost. Even the wave elections of 1958, 1964 and 1974 returned approximately 87 to 90 percent of incumbents seeking another term.
Minnesotans shouldn’t have to wait for another Great Depression to see meaningful turnover.
Congressional term limits would regularly open seats to competition and bring new voices into government. Minnesota has business owners, farmers, teachers, veterans and community leaders whose experience belongs in national policymaking.
But Congress has little incentive to limit its own power. That is why Minnesota’s legislature must act.
The Constitution allows two-thirds of state legislatures — 34 — to require Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments. Minnesota lawmakers have introduced a resolution supporting a convention limited to congressional term limits. They should pass it.
Importantly, a convention may never need to occur.
As more states apply, Congress faces a choice: propose a term-limits amendment itself or allow the states to move closer to a convention. That strategy has worked before. State pressure for a convention helped persuade Congress to propose what became the 17th Amendment, establishing direct election of senators.
Minnesota can help create that pressure again.
Washington has had ample opportunity to impose term limits voluntarily. Minnesota should join other states and give Congress a reason to act.
David Hann, Minnesota state co-chair, U.S. Term Limits
David Hann of Eden Prairie is a former Minnesota Senate minority leader, former chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota and former Eden Prairie School Board member. U.S. Term Limits is a national nonprofit advocacy organization that seeks to establish term limits for elected officials, particularly members of Congress.
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