Washington —- Protesting the Democratic majority's decision to recess the House of Representatives without voting on a proposal to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling, 24 Republican members invited tourists to fill the chamber's seats Monday and witness their demand for a vote on the bill.

The Republicans want Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call the House back into session from its five-week summer break to vote on a bill that includes the drilling provision.

Rep. Tom Price of Roswell told the tourists in the visitor galleries and the benches on the House floor that they were the "eyes and ears of the nation."

He urged the crowd to petition Pelosi and pressure representatives in their home districts for an immediate vote.

Pelosi's office, in a statement, countered that Republicans were proposing "to give away public lands to 'Big Oil,' which will not immediately reduce the price at the pump and save Americans only 2 cents 10 years from now."

The Republican protest began Friday after the Democratic majority voted to recess with at least 40 Republicans still waiting to give speeches.

With the lights dimmed and the C-SPAN cameras and microphones turned off, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Coweta County Republican, started speaking anyway.

Republican lawmakers lined up to follow him. Some en route home returned to the House floor to join the speechmaking.

By Monday, several lawmakers were recruiting tourists, who enthusiastically lined up for a rare vantage point from the floor of the chamber. Many filled the benches usually occupied by Democratic lawmakers and applauded the Republican effort to get a vote on an energy bill that in addition to drilling would include renewable fuels and conservation.

Linda Donie, a special education teacher from Howe, Texas, said it was like being a part of history.

"They just pulled us out" of a Capitol tour, she said. "It was great."

"I was very impressed" with the speeches, said Tyrone Terry of New Orleans, adding that "they just let us out" on the House floor.

The Republican speakers seemed delighted to have a live audience. But without microphones, they had to all but shout to make themselves heard in the upper reaches of the visitor galleries.

Westmoreland, who flew back to Washington just for the day to continue the protest, told the visitors, "Without your help, we're not going to be able to do anything." On energy policy, he said Congress is "being held hostage by a very small group of people: the radical environmentalists."

Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, urged the visitors to "bring the message back to your districts."

Gingrey said he had to cancel a couple of appointments at home and take a red-eye flight back to Washington to participate in the protest, but that "sometimes the district has to take a backseat to the nation."

Price, who was master of ceremony for the speeches Monday, said in an interview off the floor that the protest in the House chamber would "end when the speaker calls us back to have a vote" on an energy package.