H.J.Res. 15 (113^th): Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

H.J.Res. 15 proposes repealing presidential term limits. Rep. Serrano (D-NY), the resolution's sponsor, has proposed similar legislation in every congressional session since 1997 --- during the tenure of presidents from both parties. None of the resolutions has ever made it to a floor vote.

The joint resolution seeks to repeal the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which sets a term limit for election to the office of President of the United States. A joint resolution is one way to start the process of amending the U.S. Constitution.

The 22nd Amendment, passed by Congress in 1947 and ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1951, prohibits individuals from being elected to the office of the President more than twice or from being elected President more than once if they have already served as President for more than two years.

Attempts to repeal the 22nd Amendment date at least to 1986, when Rep. Guy Vander Jagt (R-MI) proposed legislation in the House that would allow President Ronald Reagan to seek a third term. Rep. Vander Jagt reintroduced legislation to remove the term limits on the presidency in 1987, 1989 and 1991, as did a number of Congressmen throughout the 1990s. Corresponding resolutions were proposed in the Senate by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) in 1989 and by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in 1995.

While there is a weak correlation between the party of the President and the party of the Member of Congress proposing to repeal the amendment, Rep. Serrano introduced the same resolution under Presidents Clinton (D), Bush (R) and Obama (D).

Emails to Rep. Serrano's communications director were not returned.

Below is a list of proposals to repeal the 22nd Amendment we found here on GovTrack.

HOUSE

Sponsor: Rep. Guy Vander Jagt (R-MI)

1986 (99th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/99/hjres687 (Pres. Ronald Reagan (R))

1987 (100th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/100/hjres156 (Pres. Ronald Reagan (R))

1989 (101st Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/101/hr404 (Pres. George H. W. Bush (R))

1989 (101st Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/101/hjres84 (Pres. George H. W. Bush (R))

1991 (102nd Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/102/hjres61 (Pres. George H. W. Bush (R))

Sponsor: Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY)

1993 (103rd Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/103/hjres107 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

1995 (104th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hjres71 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

1997 (105th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hjres39 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

Sponsor: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

1995 (104th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/hjres68 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

1997 (105th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hjres38 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

1999 (106th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/hjres24 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

Sponsor: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

1997 (105th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hjres88 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

2005 (109th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hjres24 (Pres. George W. Bush (R))

Sponsor: Rep. David Dreier (R-CA)

1997 (105th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hjres51 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

Sponsor: Rep. José Serrano (D-NY)

1997 (105th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/105/hjres19 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

1999 (106th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/hjres17 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D))

2001 (107th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hjres4 (Pres. George W. Bush (R))

2003 (108th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/108/hjres11 (Pres. George W. Bush (R))

2005 (109th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hjres9 (Pres. George W. Bush (R))

2007 (110th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hjres8 (Pres. George W. Bush (R))

2009 (111th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hjres5 (Pres. Barack Obama (D))

2011 (112th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hjres17 (Pres. Barack Obama (D))

2013 (113th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hjres15 (Pres. Barack Obama (D))

SENATE

Sponsor: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

1989 (101st Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/101/sjres36 (Pres. George H. W. Bush (R)) 

Sponsor: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

1995 (104th Congress): http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/104/sjres23 (Pres. Bill Clinton (D)) 

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on Jan 4, 2013.

Constitutional Amendment - Repeals the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution (thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President).