Retire Congress North Dakota announced Friday that it is spearheading a statewide push for an amendment to the North Dakota Constitution that would prohibit anyone from North Dakota aged 80 or older from serving in Congress.

The proposed amendment, if passed, would not impact any current North Dakota congressional office holders eligible for reelection in 2024. Retire Congress North Dakota stated it is launching the ballot initiative as the public questions the ability of many leaders in Washington aged 80 and older, including California’s Dianne Feinstein and President Joe Biden. Without congressional term limits in the federal Constitution preventing members from serving indefinitely, many in Congress hold their positions for life, the organization stated.

Retire Congress North Dakota stated it is a basic truth that with age comes health and cognitive decline, which invariably lead to absences and policy concerns.

“While these are sensitive topics, we’d be doing a disservice to our republic by not discussing them. Serving in Congress is both a mentally and physically strenuous role,” said Jared Hendrix, chair of Retire Congress North Dakota, Fargo. “This also draws to question if these members, often capping multi-decade careers as politicians, are truly in touch with the issues of the day or representing the best interests of their constituencies.

“Even limiting the age at 80 is far above the retirement age in the military and many private corporations. The average age of retirement in America is 64. Everybody else retires. I don’t see why politicians should be different. You can’t run for Senate until you’re 30, or Congress until you’re 25. So we already have age limits on the lower end, just not the upper end,” he added. “Since Congress has failed to bring the American people term limits, and since they will not act on this issue either, North Dakota will take the lead in setting age limits for serving in Congress.”

The petition being filed sets a maximum of 80 years and states no person may be elected or appointed to serve a term or a portion of a term in the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives if that person could attain 81 years of age by Dec. 31 of the year immediately preceding the end of the term.

The ballot language has been submitted to the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office, which must approve the wording before Retire Congress North Dakota can canvass to obtain the required signatures. The organization aims to get the measure on the June 2024 ballot.