Jerry Long, the Republican candidate running for the Distict 76 state House seat, recently observed a young resident in Ottawa deliver what he called an outstanding Memorial Day speech.
“This bright young man from Ottawa, Jakob Weiss … has shared a copy of it with us,” Long, who posted the essay on his Facebook page, said.
Weiss wrote the piece using the theme of defining "Americanism" as: "Love of America, loyalty to its institutions as the best yet devised by its people to secure life, liberty, individual dignity, and happiness; and the willingness to defend our flag against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
| Contributed photo
“People of the United States are to guide our government in directions that protect the freedom the first patriots of our nation fought to give us,” Weiss, who specified congressional term limits as one significant advance whose time has come, said. Weiss also said it “would bring fresh ideas to Congress, remove any possibility of corruption and bring in more candidates focused on improving our nation.”
Weiss said new candidates introduced regularly would increase the chances of passing laws based on current and informed views on issues relevant to the American public.
"Like any powerful nation, the United States does have corruption in its politics; however, adding term limits would drastically help remove it,” Weiss said. “Corruption only takes root when there is time for it to do so, so by including term limits to senators and representatives, we would not be giving anyone time in office to get comfortable.”
The young speaker reasoned that those in power too long may become complacent and stop caring for the right ideals.
“Candidates should be motivated to run for Congress for the right reasons, not be driven by financial gain,” Weiss said. “The individuals who choose to run for Congress with term limits should have only one motivation … to improve upon our God-given freedoms. And it is these kinds of inspired individuals that we need to improve upon the institutions that already make the United States great.”
In conclusion, the Ottawa youth summarized his rationale.
"Compiled together, just like the ideals set forth by the definition of Americanism, incorporating term limits for senators and representatives would help improve our lives, our liberty, our individual dignity and our happiness because it would be improving upon Congress, the part of our government that is completely chosen by each of us. And as seen throughout any part of the United States’ honored history, it is those like us who have made American history."
Long said Weiss shows today's youth have strong ideals.
“It's so encouraging to see that a young person like Jakob (represents) the future of our state and our country,” Long said.
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