By Chisum H.J.R. No. 119 A JOINT RESOLUTION 1-1 proposing a constitutional amendment to limit the number of times a 1-2 person may be elected to the Congress of the United States from the 1-3 State of Texas. 1-4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Article XVI of the Texas Constitution is amended 1-6 by adding Section 71 to read as follows: 1-7 Section 1. LIMITATION OF BALLOT ACCESS BY FEDERAL 1-8 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES. Section 71 is hereby added to the Texas 1-9 Constitution to read as follows: 1-10 SECTION 1: FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES; BALLOT ACCESS. 1-11 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State, 1-12 or other election official authorized by law, shall not accept or 1-13 verify the signatures on any nomination paper for any person, nor 1-14 shall he or she certify or place on the list of certified 1-15 candidates, nor print or cause to be printed on any ballot, 1-16 pamphlet, sample ballot, or ballot label for a period of 4 years 1-17 the name of any person, who either: 1-18 (a) Seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the United 1-19 States House of representatives, and who, by the end of the then 1-20 current term of office will have served 3 consecutive 2 year terms 1-21 as a member of the United States House of Representatives 1-22 representing any portion or district of the State of Texas; or 1-23 (b) Seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the United 2-1 States Senate, and who, by the end of the then current term of 2-2 office will have served 2 consecutive six year terms representing 2-3 the State of Texas. 2-4 SECTION 2. "TRIGGER MECHANISM". No candidate will be 2-5 restricted from the ballot under the provisions of this act until 2-6 some form of term limitation has been enacted on the congressional 2-7 delegation of at least twenty-five other states. Congressional 2-8 term limitation enacted in other states having similar trigger 2-9 mechanisms shall be counted toward the twenty-five state 2-10 requirement for the purpose of this Section Three. 2-11 SECTION 3. "WRITE-IN" CANDIDACIES. Nothing in this article 2-12 shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting the name of any 2-13 qualified voter of this state from casting a ballot for any person 2-14 by writing the name of that person on the ballot, or from having 2-15 such a ballot counted or tabulated, nor shall any provision of this 2-16 article be construed as preventing or prohibiting any person from 2-17 standing or campaigning for any elective office by means of a 2-18 "write-in" campaign. 2-19 SECTION 4. CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this article shall be 2-20 construed as preventing or prohibiting the name of any person from 2-21 appearing on the ballot at any direct primary of general election 2-22 unless that person is specifically prohibited from doing so by the 2-23 provisions of Section 2 of this article, and to that end, the 2-24 provision of Section 2 shall be strictly construed. 2-25 SECTION 5. INSTRUCTION. The members of the United States 3-1 House of Representatives and United States Senate representing any 3-2 district or portion of Texas are instructed to use their best 3-3 efforts to attain such a limitation on terms nationwide by 3-4 amendment to the United States Constitution. 3-5 SECTION 6. ELECTION. This proposed constitutional amendment 3-6 shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3-7 8, 1994. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or 3-8 against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment to limit 3-9 the number of times a person shall be elected to the Congress of 3-10 the United States." 3-11 SECTION 7. APPLICATION. This act shall take effect and be 3-12 applicable to federal legislative candidates whose terms of office 3-13 begin on or after January 1, 1995. Services prior to January 1, 3-14 1995 shall not be counted for the purpose of this act.