GOP senator sees term-limit amendment

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Several Republican senators are proposing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of terms U.S. congressmen may serve.

The amendments proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and others would limit Senate service to 12 years and House terms to six years, CNN reported Wednesday.

"Americans know real change in Washington will never happen until we end the era of permanent politicians," DeMint said in a statement.

An amendment to the Constitution requires two-thirds approval from the House and Senate and ratification by 38 states.

"I want to be clear: Demanding that reformers adopt self-imposed term limits is a recipe for self-defeat on this issue," said DeMint, serving his first six-year term in the Senate.

"We lost the battle for term limits after the 1994 Republican Contract with America because we forced our best advocates for reform to go home while the big-spending career politicians waited them out. We must have term limits for all or term limits will never succeed. Only when we apply the same rules to all will we be able to enact vital bipartisan reforms."