We are
pleased to hear Congressman Ryan agrees with us that no House member should
serve more than six terms in Congress. Given that Paul Ryan has now served seven
terms in Congress totaling 14 years, we're confident he will drop out of the
race any day now. Any day...
But after considering Ryan’s troubling pattern of
dishonesty when it comes to Medicare, the federal budget, and nearly every other
issue in this campaign, perhaps we’re jumping the gun. Ryan’s already broken his
own rule—but that’s par for the course given his record of lies, hypocrisy, and
fuzzy math.
Paul Ryan: I support term limits
Posted by Felicia Sonmez on October 15, 2012
GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, who is running for his eighth
term on Capitol Hill, told an audience member Monday morning at a town
hall meeting in Waukesha, Wis., that he supports congressional term limits.
“There was a time in American history when our country term-limited
the presidency,” a man in the audience at Carroll University asked Ryan.
“Would you and Governor Romney consider a proposal to term-limit the members
of Congress? Example, two six-year terms for U.S. senators and six
two-year terms for a member of Congress.”
Ryan responded that he’s “always been a fan of term limits.”
“Yeah, I co-sponsored that when I was in Congress,” he said. “I agree
with that. I’ve always supported that in Congress. That takes a
constitutional amendment. What you don’t want to do is have a state do it to
itself and short-change its seniority and its clout in Congress. But I’ve always
been a fan of term limits. I’ve always supported that. I’ve always believed
that this should be something that you serve temporary, not for an
entire lifetime.”
A Ryan spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for details
on term-limit legislation the congressman has co-sponsored.
A search of the THOMAS legislative database shows that since Ryan
entered Congress in January 1999, at least 16 House measures have been
introduced proposing such a constitutional amendment. Ryan does not appear as a
sponsor or co-sponsor of any of the 16 measures.
One of those measures, H.J.Res. 2, was introduced by then-Rep. Bill McCollum
(R-Fla.) in January 1999, the same month Ryan took office. It would have limited
senators to two six-year terms and House members to six two-year terms, the same
number of years as suggested by the man in the Waukesha crowd.
Ryan has voiced support for a constitutional amendment on term limits
since his first congressional race in 1998. During that race, he was targeted
by a group, Americans for Term Limits, for declining to sign a three-term-limit
pledge, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Ryan explained at the time
that since they were not applicable to all members, he believed such term-limit
pledges could result in reducing the power of some districts and states on
Capitol Hill.
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