514
Opinion of the Court
I
Article VIII "instruct[s]" each Member of Missouri's congressional delegation "to use all of his or her delegated powers to pass the Congressional Term Limits Amendment" set forth in § 16 of the Article. Mo. Const., Art. VIII, § 17(1). That proposed amendment would limit service in the United States Congress to three terms in the House of Representatives and two terms in the Senate.2
Three provisions in Article VIII combine to advance its purpose. Section 17 prescribes that the statement "DIS-REGARDED VOTERS' INSTRUCTION ON TERM LIMITS" be printed on all primary and general ballots adjacent to the name of a Senator or Representative who fails to take any one of eight legislative acts in support of the proposed amendment.3 Section 18 provides that the statement "DE-2 The full text of the proposed amendment is as follows: "Congressional Term Limits Amendment "(a) No person shall serve in the office of United States Representative for more than three terms, but upon ratification of this amendment no person who has held the office of the United States Representative or who then holds the office shall serve for more than two additional terms.
"(b) No person shall serve in the office of United States Senator for more than two terms, but upon ratification of this amendment no person who has held the office of United States Senator or who then holds the office shall serve in the office for more than one additional term.
"(c) Any state may enact by state constitutional amendment longer or shorter limits than those specified in section 'a' or 'b' herein.
"(d) This article shall have no time limit within which it must be ratified to become operative upon the ratification of the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States."
3 Section 17(2) provides that the statement shall be printed "adjacent to the name of any United States Senator or Representative who:
"(a) fails to vote in favor of the proposed Congressional Term Limits Amendment set forth above when brought to a vote or;
"(b) fails to second the proposed Congressional Term Limits Amendment set forth above if it lacks for a second before any proceeding of the legislative body or;
"(c) fails to propose or otherwise bring to a vote of the full legislative body the proposed Congressional Term Limits Amendment set forth above if it otherwise lacks a legislator who so proposes or brings to a
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