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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The first President of the United States, George
3Washington, stated in his Farewell Address: "The basis of our
4political systems is the right of the people to make and to
5alter their Constitutions of Government."; and
 
6    WHEREAS, 25% of Congress has been in office for more than
716 years; by the end of 2016, 9 members will have been in
8office for more than 40 years; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Term limits would reverse this trend by ensuring
10that open-seat races are held on a regular basis; the best and
11brightest minds in our states, who are currently blocked from
12serving in Congress by tenured politicians, would finally have
13the opportunity to move upward and make their case to the
14American people; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Term limits also address the top-down power
16structure in Washington by allowing for less senior members to
17hold leadership roles; this means Congress will not only get an
18infusion of new talent but that all of its members will be
19empowered to make a difference; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution
21requires the United States Congress to call a convention for

 

 

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1proposing amendments upon application of two-thirds of the
2legislatures of the several states for the purpose of proposing
3amendments to the United States Constitution; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois sees the need for a
5convention to propose amendments to set a limit on the number
6of terms that a person may be elected as a Member of the United
7States House of Representatives and to set a limit on the
8number of terms that a person may be elected as a Member of the
9United States Senate, or for a substantially similar purpose,
10and desires that the convention should be so limited; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois desires that the delegates
12to the convention shall be comprised equally from individuals
13currently elected to State and local office, or be selected by
14election in each Congressional district for the purpose of
15serving as delegates, though all individuals elected or
16appointed to federal office, now or in the past, be prohibited
17from serving as delegates to the Convention, and intends to
18retain the ability to restrict or expand the power of its
19delegates within the limits expressed above; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The State of Illinois intends that this be a
21continuing application, considered together with applications
22from other States to Congress, to call a convention to set a
23limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected to

 

 

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1the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United
2States and the Senate of the United States; and this
3application shall be aggregated with same for the purpose of
4attaining the two-thirds of states necessary to require
5Congress to call a limited convention on this subject but shall
6not be aggregated with any other applications on any other
7subject; and
 
8    WHEREAS, This application constitutes a continuing
9application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of
10the United States of America until the legislatures of at least
11two-thirds of the several states have made applications on the
12same subject; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
15CONCURRING HEREIN, that we, the legislature of the State of
16Illinois, hereby make application to the Congress, under the
17provisions of Article V of the Constitution of the United
18States, for the calling of a convention for proposing
19amendments; and be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That this application shall be deemed an
21application for a convention to address each and any of the
22subjects listed in this resolution; for purposes of determining
23whether two-thirds of the states have applied for a convention

 

 

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1addressing any subject, this application is to be aggregated
2with the applications of any other state legislatures limited
3to one or more of the subjects listed in this resolution; and
4be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That this resolution constitutes a continuing
6application and remains in effect until rescission by any
7sitting session of the legislature of this State; this
8application does not constitute a recognition that any
9particular activity or activities currently undertaken by the
10federal government is or are authorized by the Constitution;
11and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
13delivered to the President and Secretary of the United States
14Senate, the Speaker and Clerk of the House of Representatives
15of the United States Congress, and the Archivist of the United
16States; to the members of the United States Senate and House of
17Representatives from this State; and to the presiding officers
18of each of the legislative chambers in the several States,
19requesting their cooperation.