A group of concerned citizens has gotten together to form the Maine Chapter of Americans To Limit Congressional Terms. We feel this is necessary because Congress is out of touch and out of control.

We are interested in returning to the concept our founding fathers had for a Congress of citizens working on behalf of all the people — where the unwritten rule was that you went to Washington, worked hard on the nation’s business for two, four or six years, and then returned home.

There are no longer any “citizen legislators” around. They have all been run out of office by “professional politicians” who devote most of their time to promoting themselves, protecting their lifelong seats, and refusing to tackle tough problems.

Congress has acted systematically and repeatedly to protect the incumbency (about 95 percent of all incumbents are returned to office) and to make the job of congressional service as comfortable as possible. Just last year, Congress voted to increase its own level of pay from $89,500 a year to $120,800 in 1991. This places members of Congress in the top 1 percent of all wage earners nationwide.

We are looking for people who are as fed up with this situation as we are. We are a non-profit, non-partisan grass-roots organization that wants to get a constitutional amendment passed that will limit congressional terms to 12 years. We need help!

If anyone is interested in getting more information, collecting signatures or attending meetings, please contact us. We are organizing all over the state because we know it is not realistic to expect the politicians to change a system that they find so beneficial. James L. Putnam Director, Maine Chapter Americans To Limit Congressional Terms P.O. Box 465 Bryant Pond 04219