Washington, Sep 18 -

WASHINGTON, D.C. September 18, 2008 – U.S. Representative John R. “Randy” Kuhl, Jr. (R-Hammondsport) today introduced the winning idea for the Fix Washington Project on the floor of Congress. The most popular idea, ‘impose term limits on all members of Congress - U.S. House of Representative should be limited to six terms (12yrs) and U.S. Senators two terms (12yrs),’ received 43% of the votes and surpassed the runner-up idea by 120 votes. The winning idea was announced on Monday, September 15th and introduced as a Constitutional amendment today in the House of Representatives.

“Today I had the honor of introducing the winning idea for the Fix Washington Project before my colleagues on the floor of the House of Representatives. This idea, which was submitted by 10 different constituents, won an overwhelming number of votes,” said Rep. Kuhl. “This project has been a terrific experience and I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing from all of my constituents. I sincerely hope that even though the Fix Washington Project is over, I will continue to hear from my constituents on what they want to see Congress achieve.”

The Fix Washington Project was first announced on May 16, 2008. The project offered constituents in the 29th Congressional District of New York the opportunity to have their legislative ideas turned into a bill and introduced in Congress. From May 16th to July 18th, more than 400 constituents wrote, called, or faxed in their ideas on how to fix Washington. On Tuesday, July 22nd, the five selected ideas were posted on Rep. Kuhl’s website and his constituents had eight weeks to vote for their favorite idea.  The winning idea was announced on Monday, September 15th.

Congressman Kuhl drafted the legislation this week and introduced it on the floor of Congress today. Due to the nature of the winning idea, it was drafted as a Constitutional amendment. Upon the amendment’s introduction, it will be sent to a Congressional committee to be studied and discussed by Members of Congress. If it is addressed at the Committee level and passed, it will then move to the House floor for debate and a potential vote. In order for the amendment to be added to the Constitution, it must be ratified by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress and by three quarters of the states. In the 110th Congress, the Democrats control the majority and leadership and they set the agenda for committees and votes.

The winning idea was suggested by Armand Marianetti, Farmington; John Gobe, Stanley; Peter Haidt, Pittsford; Mary Kelly, Ellicottville; Janis Becker, Caneadea; Martin Adduci, Machias; Dave Zacharias, Canandaigua; Robert Rutt, Rochester; Alexander Hoffarth, Fairport; Duane Granger, Pittsford.

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