PA-10: Perry Calls For Repeal of 17th Amendment and Give State Legislatures Power to Elect Senators
The Capitol Region Republican has signed on as a co-sponsor to Rep. Keith Self’s (R-Texas) resolution (H.J.Res.198) to repeal the 17th Amendment and restore the Founders’ original vision for the United States Senate by returning the selection of U.S. Senators to state legislatures.
The 17th Amendment, ratified in 1913, allows voters to cast direct votes for U.S. senators. Prior to its passage, senators were chosen by state legislatures.
“The current system has given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve,” said Self. “Our Founding Fathers designed the Senate to protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach. If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them. Repealing the 17th Amendment will restore that constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union.”
According to the National Archives, “The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation. Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms. Late in the 19th century, some state legislatures deadlocked over the election of a senator when different parties controlled different houses — Senate vacancies could last months or years. In other cases, special interests or political machines gained control over the state legislature. Progressive reformers dismissed individuals elected by such legislatures as puppets and the Senate as a “millionaires’ club” serving powerful private interests.”
https://politicspa.com/perry-calls-for-repeal-of-17th-amendment-and-give-state-legislatures-power-to-elect-senators/149474/
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