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Marino tries again with three bills that make common sense

U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, a Cogan Station Republican who represents much of our region, is trying again in the new Congress.

He is reintroducing three common sense bills intended, in his words, to refocus Washington.

The bills deal with issues of term limits, single-subject legislation and ensuring that committee-backed legislation cannot be kept from a vote on the House floor.

They all make sense and should have been approved long ago. They were unable to build traction in the full house.

Marino is hopeful that the election of an outsider for president in Donald Trump signals momentum for legislation such as his. He says the election of Trump shows the American people want action that is different from what currently comes from the standard politician.

What the congressman is asking for is hardly radical.

He is pushing an amendment to the Constitution restricting the amount of time a representative or senator can serve in Congress to 12 years. That’s six terms for a congressman and two terms for a senator, plenty of time for someone to leave their mark and then pass the torch before they become too intoxicated with Washington power.

He is sponsoring an amendment to the Constitution that would require each law enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject that is clearly defined in the title of the law. No more watering down legislation to the point where the focus of the law gets lost and nobody knows what they are voting on and the public doesn’t understand it either.

The last bill is an amendment to the House of Representatives codes ensuring a bill that is passed by a committee is considered by the full House within 90 days. No more with the legislation being buried in a desk drawer because a House powerbroker does not want it to see the light of day, probably for partisan reasons.

We’ve been told this is a new day in Washington. If so, these bills will get serious consideration this time around.

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