Letter: Term-limits convention is no threat to Constitution

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The former governor ignores the fact that Question 17 has historical precedent. While none of the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been enacted by way of a convention, many of them, including the Bill of Rights, women's suffrage and the direct election of U.S. senators, came about because states began the process of calling a convention and forced Congress' hand. The direct election of senators is, perhaps, the best example. Then, as now, members of the Senate had a direct personal stake in preserving the status quo. They refused to bring the matter to a vote, even though the public overwhelmingly supported a direct vote to elect senators, just as is today the case on term limits. Only when the forces favoring direct election of senators came within one state of forcing an Article V convention to propose the amendment, did the Senate vote to send the amendment to the states for ratification.

The fears expressed by O'Callaghan about a convention to propose amendments are greatly exaggerated. Let's be clear on one point: A convention cannot enact anything. If, in the the unlikely event such a convention were ever called, any amendments proposed at the convention would still have to be ratified by the legislators in 38 states. That is a mighty tall hurdle for any amendment to surmount -- let alone ones as controversial as those often cited by the opponents of term limits. The framers of our Constitution clearly understood that there would be occasions when the Congress might usurp power and frustrate the will of the people. That is why Article V was included in the Constitution.

Members of Congress have a clear conflict of interest when it comes to proposing an amendment to limit their own terms. Left on their own, members of Congress will never impose term limits on themselves. As for the argument that term limits are not needed because of high turnover in the congress, consider this: In 1994, when a tidal wave of new members was swept into office and control of both the House and Senate changed hands, more than 90 percent of incumbents seeking re-election were returned to office.

Scare tactics aside, Nevadans overwhelmingly favor congressional term limits. Question 17 should and will pass by a wide margin on Nov. 5.

Hal Furman