Assembly Resolution No. 475
BY: M. of A. Gallahan
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
making an application to the Congress of the United
States of America for the calling of a convention
for the purpose of proposing amendments to the
Constitution of the United States that limit the
terms of office for members of Congress
WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States provides
that Congress must call a convention for the purpose of proposing
amendments to the Constitution upon application by two-thirds of the
states demanding such action; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the state of New York is hereby joining
with other states in asserting rights and responsibilities under Article
V of the Constitution of the United States with regard to proposing a
congressional term limits amendment; and
WHEREAS, the citizens of twenty-three states, having passed statutes
or state constitutional amendments limiting ballot access to federal
congressional candidates on the basis of terms previously served in
congress, were overruled by the Supreme Court of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the influence of money in politics and elections continues
to increase and both major political parties have become dependent upon
special interest groups that bankroll their campaigns; and
WHEREAS, our elected federal officials pass laws that are beneficial
to their mega-donors, but are harmful to the American people; and
WHEREAS, to maximize their dollars, most Political Action
Committees, especially those representing corporations, give the
majority of their campaign money to the incumbents in Congress, making
it virtually impossible for challengers to win an election; and
WHEREAS, the average length of service in Congress continues to rise
which creates a detachment between the members and their constituents,
making the American people feel they are no longer being listened to;
and
WHEREAS, open-seat elections will allow for more people to
participate in the government from a variety of backgrounds providing
better representation and more options for the voters on the ballots;
and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the state of New York, a body of citizen
legislators, desires to restore rotation in office for members serving
in the Congress of the United States; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED (if the &HOUSE concur), The Legislature of the state of New
York hereby makes an application to Congress, as provided by Article V
of the Constitution of the United States, to call a convention limited
to proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to
set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a
Member of the United States House of Representatives and to set a limit
on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a Member of the
United States Senate; and be it further
RESOLVED (if the &HOUSE concur), This application shall be considered
as covering the same subject matter as the applications from other
States to Congress to call a convention to set a limit on the number of
terms that a person may be elected to the House of Representatives of
the Congress of the United States and the Senate of the United States;
and this application shall be aggregated with same for the purpose of
attaining the two-thirds of states necessary to require Congress to call
a limited convention on this subject, but shall not be aggregated with
any other applications on any other subject; and be it further
RESOLVED (if the &HOUSE concur), This application constitutes a
continuing application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution
of the United States until the legislatures of at least two-thirds of
the several States have made applications on the same subject; and be it
further
RESOLVED (if the &HOUSE concur), The secretary of state is hereby
directed to transmit copies of this application to the President and
Secretary of the United States Senate and to the Speaker and Clerk of
the United States House of Representatives, and copies to the members of
the said Senate and House of Representatives from this State; also to
transmit copies hereof to the presiding officers of each of the
legislative houses in the several States, requesting their cooperation.
