Bill Text: FL S0970 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Congressional Term Limits

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Rules [S0970 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S0970-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2013                                     SM 970
       
       
       
       By Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       22-00861A-13                                           2013970__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to propose to the states an amendment
    4         to the Constitution of the United States that would
    5         limit the consecutive terms of office which a member
    6         of the United States Senate or the United States House
    7         of Representatives may serve.
    8  
    9         WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States
   10  authorizes Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution
   11  which shall become valid when ratified by the states, and
   12         WHEREAS, a continuous and growing concern has been
   13  expressed that the best interests of this nation will be served
   14  by limiting the terms of members of Congress, a concern
   15  expressed by the Founding Fathers and incorporated into the
   16  Articles of Confederation, and
   17         WHEREAS, the voters of the State of Florida, by the
   18  gathering of petition signatures, placed on the general election
   19  ballot of 1992 a measure to limit the consecutive years of
   20  service for several offices, including the offices of United
   21  States Senator and United States Representative, and
   22         WHEREAS, the voters of Florida incorporated this limitation
   23  into the State Constitution as Section 4, Article VI, by an
   24  approval vote that exceeded 76 percent in the general election
   25  of 1992, and
   26         WHEREAS, in 1995, the United States Supreme Court ruled in
   27  U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995), a 5 to
   28  4 decision, that the individual states did not possess the
   29  requisite authority to establish term limits, or additional
   30  qualifications, for persons elected to the United States Senate
   31  or United States House of Representatives, and
   32         WHEREAS, upon reflecting on the intent of the voters of
   33  this state and their overwhelming support of congressional term
   34  limits, the Legislature, in its 114th Regular Session since
   35  Statehood in 1845, did express through a memorial to Congress
   36  the desire to receive an amendment to the Constitution of the
   37  United States to limit the number of consecutive terms that a
   38  person may serve in the United States Senate or the United
   39  States House of Representatives, and
   40         WHEREAS, the Legislature, in its 115th Regular Session
   41  since Statehood in 1845, does again express the same desire to
   42  receive such an amendment, NOW, THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That the Florida Legislature respectfully petitions the
   47  Congress of the United States to propose to the states an
   48  amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the
   49  number of consecutive terms that a person may serve in the
   50  United States Senate or the United States House of
   51  Representatives.
   52         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   53  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   54  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   55  United States House of Representatives, to each member of the
   56  Florida delegation to the United States Congress, and to the
   57  presiding officer of each house of the legislature of each
   58  state.