A look at the congressional class of 1994 reveals that self-limited members voted to spend three times less than members who did not limit their terms. In 1998 NTU found that self-limited junior Republicans voted for 6.9 percent less spending than did the senior Republicans. Term-lirnited member Sanford says fiscal irresponsibility creeps in over time. It's not like members wake up and think how they can rip off the taxpayer. Sanford says he fears that if more members don't vote responsibly on spending, America will fiscally self-destruct.
Congressmen have more in common with each other than with the people they claim to represent.
When Coburn, an obstetrician with a successful practice, decided to run for Congress, he says he limited himself to three terms for those very reasons. Coburn believes that citizens who run for Congress should be able to maintain a job at home so that when they stop drawing their congressional salary their transition back to community life will be feasible. He threatened to leave office if the House ethics comniittee refused to let him continue to practice medicine. The committee eventually ruled that he could do so but that he could not profit financially from his practice. Coburn delivered 97 babies last year in his district and only has spent two weekends in Washington since his election in 1994.