To the editor:

A term is a period of time in which limits have been set, especially with elected officials. A term of service for a U.S. Senator is six years, whereas a term for a U.S. Representative is two years.

Farming in colonial days was the leading occupation, and therefore limits were not set on the number of terms you could serve, since you could not afford to leave your major source of income unattended.                                                                                                           

Unfortunately, times have changed. People now serve some fifty years, and it is now self-serving and not for the good of the country. It is now the quickest way to become a millionaire.

They spend and pass legislation that will help them get re-elected. Our country has a federal government that has been in debt. For 250 years, we have never been solvent.                   

We desperately need term limits. Federal officials need to be limited to the time they have been serving themselves and not our country. Please, we are entitled to petition our government for a grievance in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, sign petitions and end self-serving government.     

Dr. John J. Conrad,

Salem