On the website FiveThirtyEight Geoffrey Skelley writes, “Across all senators and representatives, the median age of the 118th Congress is 59 years old” (April 3rd). Skelley writes that this is the oldest Congress has ever been, saying that from 1919-1999 the median age for a senator was never over 60 and the median age for a representative was never over 55 (April 3rd). Having a large number of aged Congressmen presents a number of problems, which an age limit could help solve.
One of these problems is that the older members of the legislative branch face health issues that can prevent them from effectively doing their jobs. In an article published by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Daniel L. Murman writes, “The most important changes in cognition with normal aging are declines in performance on cognitive tasks that require one to quickly process or transform information to make a decision, including measures of speed of processing, working memory, and executive cognitive function” (August 2015). People who hold office in Congress have the power to make decisions that have an impact on the over 330 million people who live in The United States, but the older members of Congress may struggle to properly process information to make informed decisions. NIH reports in a separate article by Dr. Frank D. Brodkey that older people have a slower immune system, and often fewer immune cells (July 21, 2002). The article by Brodkey explains that this makes older people more likely to get sick and can lead to them staying sick longer (July 21, 2022). Older Congressmen would be out of commission more frequently and likely for longer periods of time, which can take them away from their job and duty.
Some politicians also express the concern that having older people in Congress, who often face medical issues, makes us appear weak on the national stage. A Fox News article by Elizabeth Elkind quotes John James, a Republican representative from Michigan, writing, “‘You can’t watch a video of Feinstein or McConnell or Biden and tell me that everything’s OK,’ James said. ‘It’s not just us saying it, it’s our adversary seeing it, they see that America has lost a step’” (September 7th). Our Congressmen are a direct representation of the country and its people. If they appear weak, so does the country as a whole.
If there was an age limit set in place for our elected officials problems like this could be largely avoided. A CBS News Poll taken August 29-31, 2022 shows that 73% of Americans believe there should be a maximum age for all elected officials, not just Congressmen (Jennifer De Pinto). The poll showed that of that 73%, 40% believe that an appropriate age limit is 70 years old (Jennifer De Pinto, August 29-31, 2022).
These are the people writing and voting on laws that people living in this country have to follow. They should be the best for the job.
