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Term-limits: as the pledges come home to roost

Campaigns & Elections, Feb, 1999 by Marc Birtel

After years of failed attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and endless court battles, the national term-limits movement is finally beginning to make its mark on Congress.

Unlike their predecessors who often served for decades, one out of every 10 U.S. House members entering the 106th Congress has agreed to self-limit his or her time in the House - trading the perquisites and power of seniority for the encomium of "citizen legislator."

Two years from now, the movement will come to its first crossroads. In 2000, 11 House members - 10 Republicans and one Democrat - will reach their promised limits of service, according to U.S. Term Limits, the leading proponent of term limits on the federal, state and local levels.

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But of those 11 members, only six have publicly said that they will not seek reelection in 2000. The other five - including two new members of the Republican leadership - are either undecided about running again or are going back on their promises to limit their time in office.

Republicans Matt Salmon of Arizona, Charles T. Canady of Florida, Helen Chenoweth of Idaho, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Jack Metcalf of Washington all say they will honor their campaign pledges and retire in 2000.

Gleeful Democrats, knowing that the House majority is only six seats from their grasp, plan to target most of these seats, especially those held by Salmon, Chenoweth, Coburn and Metcalf. Before the Republican "revolution" of 1994, all four seats were held by Democrats. The districts held by Canady and Sanford have strong GOP leanings and would be expected to remain in Republican hands.

But two Republicans Scott McInnis of Colorado and Tillie Fowler of Florida - have decided to abandon their pledges and continue serving past their self-imposed 2000 deadlines.

Fowler, elected as vice chairman of the Republican Conference, promised her Jacksonville voters in 1992 that she would serve no more than four terms; her pledge coincided with her support for an initiative that year that would have put an eight-year limit on the Florida House delegation. But during this year's leadership elections, Fowler promised her colleagues that she would stay an additional two years- until 2002 - then retire after a total of five terms.

McInnis says that although he promised to serve four terms, he never signed a pledge and supports term limits only if they are applied equally to all members. A member of the Rules Committee, he says that seniority is very important to the people of his eastern Colorado district. "We have so much at risk that you can't afford to send in a freshman quarterback," McInnis said last year on the campaign trail.

Still on the fence are Republicans George Nethercutt of Washington and J.C. Watts of Oklahoma and Democrat Martin T. Meehan of Massachusetts.

The term-limits issue helped make Nethercutt, who brought down House Speaker Thomas Foley in 1994 after the veteran Democrat led a court challenge to the state's term-limit law. But Nethercutt now says he wants to find the best way to serve his constituents in eastern Washington, and remains undecided whether he should seek a fourth House term or pursue a bid for the Senate or governor.

Watts, just anointed to the fourth-highest House leadership position as the Republican Conference chairman, says he is going to leave the decision up to his constituents. If they want him to stay, he will follow their wishes, according to his spokeswoman, Tobi Roberts.

A staffer for Meehan, the only Democrat on this year's list, refused to comment about Meehan's plans for 2000, saying that no decision has been made.

Over the past two election cycles, U.S. Term Limits has shifted its strategy from promoting candidates solely because they believe in term-limit legislation. The group now is throwing its support behind candidates who are willing to sign a pledge, and is working against candidates who refuse.

A separate group, Americans for Limited Terms, spent millions of dollars in the 1998 cycle on issue ads designed to promote pledge signers and shed a negative light on those who refused to sign.

Five House Republicans signed that pledge in 1996, vowing to leave office by 2002. They are Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Ron Lewis of Kentucky, John Cooksey of Louisiana, Rick Hill of Montana and John Thune of South Dakota.

Nine members of this year's incoming freshman class signed the six-year pledge. They are Doug Ose, R-Calif.; Grace F. Napolitano, D-Calif.; Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; Judy Biggert, R-Ill.; Ken Lucas, D-Ky.; Lee Terry, R-Neb.; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and Mark Green, R-Wis. Also signing was Lois Capps, D-Calif., who first won her seat in a March 1998 special election.

U.S. Term Limits also lists 18 other House members as having promised during their campaigns to limit themselves to a certain number of terms. These members have said they will not seek re-election in 2004: Ken Calvert, R-Calif.; James Maloney, D-Conn.; Porter Goss, R-Fla.; Dave Weldon, R-Fla.; Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa; Greg Ganske, R-Iowa; Donald Manzullo, R-Ill.; John Baldacci, D-Maine; Nick Smith, R-Mich.; James M. Talent, R-Mo.; David Minge, DMinn.; Richard M. Burr, RN.C.; Bob Franks, R-N.J.; Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; Ted Strickland, D-Ohio; Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio; Ralph Hall, D-Texas; and Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash.

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Term-limits: as the pledges come home to roost

Campaigns & Elections, Feb, 1999 by Marc Birtel

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