POLITICO
By: Patrick O'Connor
August 1, 2008 09:28 PM EST
At the stroke of 5 on Friday afternoon, House Republicans ended their half-day protest on the darkened chamber floor with a round of “God Bless America.”
That capped a wild day in the chamber, where Republicans, aides and tourists broke all manner of House rules to protest the Democrats’ decision to leave Washington for the five-week August recess without voting on a measure to open new land to domestic oil and gas exploration.
The uproar began shortly before noon, after members cast their votes along party lines on the question of whether or not to adjourn for the day.
A small band of Republicans, protesting the decision to adjourn without an oil vote, started to speak from the well—even though the lights weren’t on, the microphones were turned off and most of their colleagues were scrambling to catch flights out of town.
An empty floor is one thing when TV cameras are there, but C-Span’s cameras, which typically broadcast every word uttered on the floor of both chambers, were not allowed to broadcast the revolt since the chamber was officially closed for business.
So this small band of rank-and-file Republicans, led by Georgia Rep. Tom Price and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, shouted their criticisms of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the liberal Democrat who stuck around to watch the first few speakers, and a collection of tourists in the gallery.
Reporters were asked to clear the Speaker’s Lobby that adjoins the floor and after relocating to a press gallery directly above it, were notified they might soon be asked to leave so the gallery could be closed since the House was no longer in session.
Republican Congressmen, eager to keep the press present, headed up to the gallery one at a time, each relieving the last, to keep it from closing.
The substance of the speeches was of a piece with the summer-long move by Republicans to hammer Democratic leaders in both chambers for failing to allow a vote on measures that would open more acres—most notably in Alaska and in the Outer Continental Shelf—to domestic oil and gas exploration by private companies—a proposal whose popularity with voters has shot up along with the price of oil.
It’s a vote Democratic leaders have thus far successfully avoided.
Republican Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and his number two, party Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, both appeared at the protest—a public acknowledgment that they approved of this step.
Republicans shouted their remarks from the well of the House until Arizona Rep. John Shadegg fumbled with the public address system and finally found the correct access code that allowed him to turn on the microphone.
When he did, members cheered.
In fact, members did a lot of cheering Friday.
They cheered when the lights came on. They cheered when the lights went off again. They even cheered when the crowd in the galleries applauded their remarks.
In between, they shouted, “Work! Work! Work!”
When Capitol Police closed the tourist galleries, the members invited visitors down to the chamber floor—a rare privilege made possible because the House was not officially in session, so the regular rules did not apply.
Members noted these irregularities in their remarks all afternoon, and Republican staff scrambled to get members and aides onto the floor to keep the momentum building. At one point, leadership aides sent out an all-points-bulletin to Republican staff asking for a bullhorn to help members broadcast their remarks to those in the chamber. Many lawmakers canceled their flights to make remarks on the floor.
Texas Rep. Kevin Brady even wheeled his suitcase onto the House floor.
In total, 48 Republicans spoke on the floor Friday, offering remarks ranging from the impassioned to the plainly partisan. Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter declared, “This is the People’s House. This is not Pelosi’s Politburo.” He later pretended to be a Democrat, walking to their side of the floor to announce all the votes they had prevented.
The party has taken many lumps since losing control of the House and Senate in 2006, and members clearly relished their chance to be partisan pranksters.
California Rep. Devin Nunes and others paraded on the floor with a poster of a Volkswagen Bug with a sail attached—claiming that was the Democrats’ answer to rising fuel prices.
Texas Rep. John Culberson was feeding updates to his personal Twitter site from a cell phone that recorded the entire day.
This, of course, is not the first time members of the minority have stayed in the chamber after the House closed for official business; in 1995, when Republicans were in control, Democrats pulled a similar stunt. During that protest, they put a photo in the speaker’s chair of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wearing a diaper.
The protest occurred after the Democrats crafted an adjournment rule preventing Republicans from making a series of five-minute speeches to bash the majority party for declining to vote on off-shore drilling.
More than 75 members had signed up to offer a brief speech when the House approved an adjournment resolution largely along party lines that shut the chamber immediately after the last vote.
As news of the protest spread over the Internet, the assembled Republicans eventually convened a news conference right off Statuary Hall.
This gaggle of reporters and cameras was the largest such crowd many of these members had attracted to a press conference since assuming the minority early last year.
Price, the energetic ringleader, told the throng, “What we did today was give voice to the American people on the biggest issue they face today: the high price of gasoline.”
Through the afternoon,
Democrats were silent on the protest.
Afterward, Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said Democrats have "offered real solutions to bring down energy costs, promote renewable fuels and energy efficiency and promote oil production right here in America."
Citing a litany of modest measures to address commodity speculation and unused drilling permits, among other smaller legislation, Elshami argued "a majority of congressional Republicans have voted 'no' each time. They should go home to their districts and explain their record of obstructing common-sense proposals to address the pain at the pump."
During the press conference, at least three members announced their intent to stay in Washington—if not on the floor—until Pelosi brought lawmakers back from break to vote on an energy package. Pence even asked President Bush to command Congress to return to session.
But minutes later, this band of partisan pranksters went back to the floor, where Price told the crowd that the Republicans were wrapping up their protest to end an afternoon of rarities in the Capitol.
He and his band high-fived and exchanged hugs as they left the floor to chants of
“USA! USA! USA!”
-John Bresnahan and Daniel W. Reilly contributed reporting to this article
All I can say it RIGHT ON and ABOUT TIME!
Pursuant to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States of America, the President can compel the House of Representatives and Senate to convene in special session.
The President can force the Democrats to either vote on energy legislation or not.
Normally the American people are better served when Congress is not in session. At this time, however, the President should call the Democrats' bluff.
Call the President at 202-456-1111 and tell him to recall the Congress to Washington to vote on expanding domestic oil production.
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