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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Examination of the congressional record shows that of the one hundred U.S. Senators currently holding office, forty-six have served two consecutive six-year terms or longer, the maximum allowable under our proposed constitutional amendment. Nineteen others are currently serving their second terms.

The five most senior members combined have held Senate office for an incredible thirty-four consecutive terms, or one hundred and ninety-nine years; an average of almost seven terms, or forty years each.

Many of these Senators also held elective office in the House of Representatives or other government positions for many years in Washington or in their home states prior to their election to the U.S. Senate.

So it seems that each of these gentlemen has spent almost the entirety of their adult lives in some kind of government position, insulated from their constituents and the real issues that concern them.

Interesting to note is that all of the most senior Senators are either the chairman, or are the ranking member, of powerful Senate committees or subcommittees, and wield tremendous power over their more junior colleagues, all national legislation, and trillions of our budget dollars. They determine how much of our money is collected in federal taxes and how, when and where it is to be spent.

Since there are only one hundred Senators, compared to the four hundred and thirty-five House members, all senior Senators also serve on numerous other powerful committees that control virtually every facet of government.

It should be noted that the most coveted committee positions are awarded almost entirely based on seniority and not necessarily on any special knowledge or skill.

We believe that too many of these very powerful Senators have clung to public office for so long they cannot possibly conceive what life in the real world is like or have much sensitivity for real world issues, and are certainly not the "citizen legislators" our founding fathers envisioned.

We have included photographs, committee positions, and length of service data on the ten longest serving Senators below.

For more information on other long-serving Senators we direct you to:

www.wikipedia.org

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Top Ten Longest Serving Senators

Robert Byrd of West Virginia
aka "The Prince of Pork"
Senate President Pro Temporare
Nine Consecutive Terms - 54 Years

Daniel Inouye of Hawaii
Chairman - Senate Appropriations Committee
Seven Consecutive Terms - 46 Years

Patrick Leahy of Vermont
Chairman - Senate Judiciary Committee
Six Consecutive Terms - 35 Years

Richard Lugar of Indiana
Ranking Member - Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Six Consecutive Terms - 32 Years

Orrin Hatch of Utah
Ranking Member - Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health
Six Consecutive Terms - 32 Years

Max Baucus of Montana
Chairman - Senate Finance Committee
Six Consecutive Terms - 31 Years

Thad Cochran of Mississippi
Vice Chairman - Senate Appropriations Committee
Six Consecutive Terms - 31 Years

Carl Levin of Michigan
Chairman - Senate Armed Services Committee
Six Consecutive Terms - 30 Years

Chris Dodd of Connecticut
Chairman - Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee
Five Consecutive Terms - 29 Years

Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Ranking Member - Senate Finance Committee
Five Consecutive Terms - 27 Years

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OUR FINAL WORDS

If you believe as we do; that these career politicians, and many others like them, might be responsible for the current condition of our nation and our economy; that they may receive some serious support from wealthy special interests to keep them in office for so long; and that they just might share some of the culpability for the culture of corruption and partisan gamesmanship that flourish in Congress, then you might just be right!

Presidents come and go every four to eight years; either because they are beaten in elections or the two-term limit defined in our Twenty-second Amendment forces their retirement, but some of these congressmen seem to hang around and control our government forever!

The ten Senators we've shown above, each very powerful men in their own right, have held Senate office -- and have been responsible for passing legislation that has determined the direction of our country, how much of our money is collected in federal taxes, and how, when and where our tax dollars were spent -- for a combined total of sixty-two consecutive six-year terms, three hundred and forty-seven years, or an average of almost thirty-five years each (although Robert Byrd's fifty-four years in office does throw the real average off just a bit).

This does not count any prior time served in the House of Representatives or other elective government office.

Who do you think may be more responsible for leading our nation into its current condition; these ten guys, or the eleven Presidents of both political parties they've seen come and go during their tenure in the Senate?