NY Dem Congressman Trying Again To Abolish Presidential Term Limits

69-year-old Democratic Congressman Jose Enrique Serrano has been a very busy boy during his many years in politics. One of his major goals has been to repeal the 22nd Amendment, the one which limits the amount of times a man can be U.S. president.

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

He started introducing bills to remove term limits back in 1997. Then he followed up with similar bills in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. So it's about that time for another try, and yes he's at it again. Serrano has reintroduced his 2011 H.J. Resolution 17 in the guise of H.J. Resolution 15:

“an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.”

Even though they were pitched during the presidencies of both Democrats and Republicans, none of his bills ever got traction. And hopefully they never will.

But according to the Daily Caller, he's not the only one who has tried to repeal the amendment:

Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer also repeatedly proposed repealing the 22nd Amendment during both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

Current Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sponsored a bill to repeal the amendment in 1995.

The 22nd Amendment was passed by Congress in 1947 and ratified by 41 states by 1951. The last president before Roosevelt to prepare for a campaign for a third term was Woodrow Wilson, who pulled out of the 1920 nominating race to avoid deadlocking the Democratic convention in San Francisco.

It will be interesting to see if this one gets to floor this time, considering who is currently in office, and who would probably love to remain there after his next four are over.