Menomonee Falls Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner joined with Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold and some of his fellow Congressmen today at a press conference introducing a Constitutional Amendment calling for the direct election of all U.S. Senators, even those filling vacancies.
Congressman Sensenbrenner joined with Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Rules Committee Ranking Republican, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Republican Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Senator Feingold (D-WI) at today’s event.
“Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that has never had a U.S. Senator appointed,” Congressman Sensenbrenner said. “We have always filled our vacated seats with a special election, allowing the people to choose who they would like to represent them. Given the recent fiascos and horse-trading we’ve seen regarding some of the Senate appointments in Illinois, New York, Delaware, New Hampshire and Colorado, the time has come to close the appointment window. That is nothing to denigrate the people who have graciously agreed to serve in those positions, however, the people did not elect them, one person selected them.”
Congressman Sensenbrenner is an original cosponsor of the Constitutional Amendment that Congressman Dreier and Chairman Conyers introduced in the House. Senator Feingold also introduced an identical amendment in the Senate.
The 17th Amendment gave citizens the power to directly elect their Senators. Before the Amendment was ratified, Senators were selected by state legislatures. Wisconsin has a statute requiring the special elections of U.S. Senators to fill vacancies.
###
text size 
