Senate Joint Resolution 4 - Introduced SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 4 BY WHITING , DAWSON , LOFGREN , GUTH , ROZENBOOM , SHIPLEY , ZAUN , and KLIMESH SENA TE JOINT RESOLUTION A Joint Resolution requesting the call of a convention for 1 the purpose of proposing an amendment to the Constitution 2 of the United States relating to term limits for federal 3 legislators. 4 WHEREAS, Article V of the Constitution of the United States 5 provides that Congress must call a convention for the purpose 6 of proposing amendments to the Constitution upon application by 7 two-thirds of the states demanding such action; and 8 WHEREAS, the general assembly of Iowa is hereby joining with 9 other states in asserting rights and responsibilities under 10 Article V of the Constitution of the United States with regard 11 to proposing a congressional term limits amendment; and 12 WHEREAS, the average length of service in Congress continues 13 to rise which creates a detachment between the members and 14 their constituents, making the American people feel they are no 15 longer being listened to; and 16 WHEREAS, open-seat elections will allow for more people to 17 participate in the government from a variety of backgrounds 18 providing better representation and more options for the voters 19 on the ballots; and 20 WHEREAS, the general assembly of Iowa, a body of citizen 21 legislators, desires to restore rotation in office for members 22 serving in the Congress of the United States; NOW THEREFORE, 23 TLSB 1211XS (3) 89 ss/jh

Senate Joint Resolution 4 - Introduced BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 24 That the general assembly, as the legislature of the state of 25 Iowa, pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United 26 States, hereby applies to the Congress of the United States 27 to call a convention for the exclusive purpose of proposing an 28 amendment to the Constitution of the United States to limit the 29 number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the 30 United States house of representatives and to set a limit on 31 the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of 32 the United States senate. 33 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the secretary of the Iowa 34 senate transmit copies of this resolution to the president and 35 secretary of the United States senate, the speaker, clerk, and 36 judiciary committee chairperson of the United States house of 37 representatives, to each senator and representative from Iowa 38 in the Congress of the United States, and to the presiding 39 officers of each legislative body of each of the several 40 states, requesting the cooperation of the states in issuing 41 an application compelling Congress to call a convention for 42 proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the Constitution 43 of the United States. 44 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application shall 45 be considered as covering the same subject matter as the 46 applications from other states to Congress to call a convention 47 to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be 48 elected to the United States house of representatives and the 49 United States senate; and this application shall be aggregated 50 with the same for the purpose of attaining the two-thirds 51 of states necessary to require Congress to call a limited 52 convention on this subject, but shall not be aggregated with 53 any other applications on any other subject. 54 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application constitutes 55 a continuing application in accordance with Article V of the 56 Constitution of the United States until the legislatures of at 57 least two-thirds of the several states have made applications 58 on the same subject. 59 TLSB 1211XS (3) 89 ss/jh

S.J.R. 4 EXPLANATION 1 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 2 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 This resolution constitutes a petition requesting the United 4 States Congress to call a convention for the exclusive purpose 5 of proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 6 States proposing term limits for members of the United States 7 senate and house of representatives. 8 The resolution also provides that it shall serve as a 9 continuing application to call a convention, until at least 10 two-thirds of the legislatures of the several states have made 11 application for a similar convention and the convention is 12 convened by Congress. The resolution provides that it shall 13 not be aggregated with applications requesting that conventions 14 be called for other reasons. 15 The resolution also requires that the secretary of the Iowa 16 senate transmit copies of the resolution to the president and 17 secretary of the United States senate, to the speaker, clerk, 18 and judiciary committee chairperson of the United States house 19 of representatives, to each senator and representative from 20 Iowa in the Congress of the United States, and to the presiding 21 officers of each legislative body of each of the several 22 states, requesting the cooperation of the states in issuing 23 an application compelling Congress to call a convention for 24 proposing amendments pursuant to Article V of the Constitution 25 of the United States. 26 -1- LSB 1211XS (3) 89 ss/jh 1/ 1