WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz is stepping up his efforts to impose term limits on Congress, calling for a constitutional amendment on the issue.

The amendment, proposed Tuesday with Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida, would limit senators to two six-year terms and House members to three two-year terms.

"D.C. is broken," Cruz said in a written statement. "The American people resoundingly agreed on Election Day, and President-elect Donald Trump has committed to putting government back to work for the American people. It is well past time to put an end to the cronyism and deceit that has transformed Washington into a graveyard of good intentions."

The Texas Republican's proposal follows through on a Washington Post column he co-authored with DeSantis in December previewing his action.

“With term limits, we will have more frequent changes in leadership and within congressional committees, giving reformers a better chance at overcoming the Beltway inertia that resists attempts to reduce the power of Washington,” the pair wrote.

Six Republican senators co-sponsored the amendment.

The proposal would need to clear several steep hurdles to come to fruition. Constitutional amendments require approval of two-thirds of both the House and Senate, and then need to be ratified by three-quarters of state legislatures or a convention of the states.

Polls have shown strong popular support for congressional term limits. A Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted in October found that 74 percent favor establishing term limits for all members of Congress, with 13 percent opposed.

Though Cruz has opted not to unilaterally impose term limits on himself without an institutional change, one member of the Texas congressional delegation says he will.

Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, pledged during his first campaign for Congress in 2012 that he would limit himself to four terms in the House, a promise that he recently reaffirmed. That means he will be out of office in 2021, though he has said he is considering a run for the Senate. O'Rourke co-founded a bipartisan term limits caucus in the House with Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa.

O'Rourke noted Thursday that a proposal he has floated for a term limits amendment precedes Cruz's by several years. First put forward in 2013 with Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., O'Rourke's effort would restrict senators to two terms and House members to four terms.

"This place obviously doesn't work anymore. It's at the depths of its worst dysfunction," O'Rourke said. "In order to be responsive to that, we need to propose some reforms."

The El Paso Democrat also criticized politicians who push for reforms like term limits or eliminating super PACs without self-imposing the proposals to demonstrate their sincerity.

"It's empty rhetoric because this place doesn't have the political will or courage to actually address real reforms," O'Rourke said. "You have to live it. You have to show people that you really have the courage of your convictions, that you believe what you're talking about."