Would be beneficial

Candidates running for office are getting older, with the current Congress being the third-oldest Congress since the founding of the U.S., and this has sparked concerns among Americans. Seeing the people who lead this country have apparent freeze-ups in interviews demonstrates how politicians’ ages have affected their capability to lead this country. For example, many voters agree that 81-year-old Mitch McConnell’s age limits his ability to deliver efficient responses in an interview.

First of all, many Americans want age limits for politicians. According to a CBS News poll, 73% of Americans support a maximum age limit for elected officials — a sentiment shared across party lines, with 75% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats supporting an age limit for Congress members. Americans want to see themselves represented in their politicians, and with the median age in Congress being almost 20 years greater than the median age of Americans, many younger Americans feel as though their interests are neglected.

64-year-old Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a strong proponent of age limits for Congress members and also a gastroenterologist, claims that once people reach a certain age — typically around age 80 — rapid bodily decline begins. As a doctor, Cassidy is concerned about the effect of age on competency in Congress, where many senators and representatives are over 80 years old.

The effects of bodily decline are most noticeable in the brain. According to Harvard Medical School, certain brain areas, like the hippocampus, shrink in size as the brain ages. Additionally, the myelin sheath that protects nerve fibers wears down, which slows communication between neurons. This can affect one’s ability to remember new information and retrieve information that’s already in storage, perhaps explaining McConnell’s interview freezes.

While it’s true that Congress benefits from the experience and insight of the older generation, it’s even more important that elected offices are filled with people of many different ages and generations. By enacting a reasonable age limit, probably somewhere around age 70, the entrenched seat faction in Congress would likely be reduced. With their political influence and large campaign funding, incumbents tend to have a strong advantage over challengers, and age limits would bar many veteran congress members, such as McConnell or Nancy Pelosi, from reelection.

In order to increase competition for seats in Congress and promote the election of younger candidates, it is necessary to enact an age limit for elected officials. An age limit seems to be one of the only things that Republicans and Democrats can actually agree on, so let’s give the people what they want.