Horn opposes, Bice backs congressional term limits
U. S. Rep. Kendra Horn said this week she opposes term limits for members of Congress, putting her at odds with Republican rival, state Sen. Stephanie Bice, who has pledged to support a constitutional amendment limiting congressional terms.
Horn, D- Oklahoma City, said in a virtual town hall meeting on Wednesday that she supports the current term limits for U.S. president and for statewide offices in Oklahoma but not for lawmakers.
“We have term limits and they are called elections and we need people to participate in them,” she said.
“I think people can serve and do so effectively for many years if they are paying attention and they are focused on service.”
Citing an oft- used argument against term limits, Horn said they put “more power into the hands of powerful lobbyists and people with the money because you lose experience of members of Congress who are digging in and doing their jobs well.”
Bice, of Oklahoma City,
and other members of the Oklahoma Legislature are limited to 12 years, whether all in the same house or combined; she has been in the Senate since 2014.
Bice signed the pledge with the organization U.S. Term Limits promising to “cosponsor and vote for the U. S. Term Limits amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.”
"One of the real differences in this race is that I support term limits and Kendra Horn does not,” Bice said Thursday, adding that it was another issue on which Horn agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Though she signed the U.S. Term Limits pledge, Bice has not promised voters to limit herself to a certain number of terms. A campaign spokesperson said Bice has said she thinks 10 years would be her own personal limit.
Bice is hoping to unseat Horn in the 5th Congressional District, which includes most of Oklahoma County and Pottawatomie and Seminole counties.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R- Westville, and former Rep. Jim Bridenstine, of Tulsa, pledged in 2012 to serve no more than three terms in the U.S. House. Bridenstine became administrator of NASA in 2018 before completing his third term. Mullin broke the pledge in 2018, seeking and winning a fourth term.
The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that states don't have the right to limit the terms of their congressmen. The decision struck down congressional term limit provisions in Oklahoma and 22 other states. The high court said states could not add qualifications for office to those already in the U.S. Constitution.
Amending the Constitution would require support from two-thirds of the House and Senate and ratification by 38 states. Various bills are introduced in each Congress calling for term limits but die without hearings or votes.
The legislation Bice pledged to support was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee in early 2019 but has not been brought up in the committee for a vote.