Electoral Rights Enforcement Act of 1995

Electoral Rights Enforcement Act of 1995 - Authorizes each State or the people thereof to prescribe the maximum number of terms to which a person may be elected or appointed to the Senate or the House of Representatives.

[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 1104 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1104

To protect and enforce the equal privileges and immunities of citizens 
  of the United States and the constitutional rights of the people to 
            choose Senators and Representatives in Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 1995

  Mr. Sanford (for himself, Mr. Deal of Georgia, and Mrs. Chenoweth) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            House Oversight

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To protect and enforce the equal privileges and immunities of citizens 
  of the United States and the constitutional rights of the people to 
            choose Senators and Representatives in Congress.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Electoral Rights Enforcement Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that:
            (1) The right of the people of the States to choose their 
        Senators and Representatives in Congress is a fundamental right 
        and a privilege and immunity of citizenship reserved to the 
        States or the people by the tenth amendment, and enforceable 
        under the fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth, nineteenth, 
        twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth amendments and article I, 
        sections 4 and 8, of the Constitution.
            (2) A State and its people may reasonably conclude that 
        requiring regular rotation in office of their Senators and 
        Representatives in Congress best serves their needs and the 
        interests of good government.
            (3) An overwhelming majority of the people in every State 
        favor term limits on their Senators and Representatives in 
        Congress.
            (4) Long-time incumbents often have benefits from their 
        offices that have given them unequal advantages in obtaining 
        reelection.
            (5) Entrenched incumbency has had the effect of denying 
        equal rights to seek office.
            (6) Entrenched incumbency has had the effect of reducing 
        the participation of racial minorities, women, and young voters 
        in elections for the Senate and House of Representatives.
            (7) Long-time incumbents often encourage unconstitutional 
        gerrymandering of congressional districts to assist their 
        continuing in office.
            (8) Long-time incumbents often become more responsive to 
        special interests than to the voters, thus infringing on the 
        voter's right to nondiscriminatory treatment in the provision 
        of government services.
            (9) Long-term incumbents often have advantages in obtaining 
        financial support for campaigns, which result in greatly 
        unequal opportunities among candidates seeking election.
    (b) Purpose.--The purposes of the Act are--
            (1) to enforce the guarantees of equal protection of the 
        laws and protect the privileges and immunities of citizens of 
        the United States, as guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment, 
        by authorizing the people and the States to limit the terms of 
        their Senators and Representatives in Congress;
            (2) to enforce the guarantees of the tenth amendment to the 
        same end;
            (3) to enforce the guarantees of the fifteenth, nineteenth, 
        twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth amendments to the same end;
            (4) to enforce the right of the people to choose their 
        Representatives in Congress guaranteed by article 1 of the 
        Constitution;
            (5) to enforce the right of the people to choose their 
        Senators guaranteed by the seventeenth amendment to the 
        Constitution; and
            (6) to regulate the manner of elections to Congress.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION AND ENFORCEMENT; SENATE.

    Each State or the people thereof may prescribe the maximum number 
of terms to which a person may be elected or appointed to the Senate of 
the United States.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION AND ENFORCEMENT; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    Each State or the people thereof may prescribe the maximum number 
of terms to which a person may be elected to the House of 
Representatives of the United States.
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