Congressional Limit Of 12 Years Proposed

The House Judiciary Committee proposed Tuesday that senators and representatives be limited to 12 years in office, setting the stage for a vote next week on a constitutional amendment that Speaker Newt Gingrich has promised would be the House’s first legislative business of the year.

If the House musters a two-thirds vote, which seems doubtful, and the Senate does, too, which is even more unlikely, then the proposal would become part of the Constitution if 38 state legislatures approved it within seven years.

Even though Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who heads the Judiciary Committee, made it plain that he thought the whole idea was stupid, he scheduled early action to help Gingrich keep his promise.