WASHINGTON — It was like old times Wednesday as the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich rallied fellow Republicans to continue their takeover of the vacated House chamber to push for expanded exploration and drilling for oil and gas.

"I'm very proud of House Republicans," said the former speaker from Georgia, who was once the master of insurgency in the House. He spoke in a Capitol corridor jammed with TV cameras, reporters and more than a dozen lawmakers who had broken off their summer recess to join the protest.

Later, a standing-room only crowds of tourists filed onto the House floor where they listened and applauded for the fourth day, while Republican lawmakers chided the Democratic majority for going on vacation without first taking up an energy bill that would allow more offshore oil drilling.

Gingrich did not speak in the House chamber. "I'm not a member," he said. But he told reporters that Republicans had tapped into the public sentiment on the energy issue.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is the target of the GOP rebellion, responded Wednesday with a list of "Top 10" questions for the minority.

Among them: "When House Republicans were in the majority for 12 years, our dependence on foreign oil escalated. Why didn't House Republicans do something about America's energy independence to ensure we wouldn't reach the energy crisis we're in now?"

Gingrich predicted that Republicans would join enough Democrats this fall to pass a measure providing for renewable fuels, solar power, and nuclear energy, as well as drilling for oil and gas in areas where drilling is now banned.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio sent an alert to members asking them to return to keep the protest going in the Capitol.

Georgia Rep. Tom Price of Roswell, one of the chief instigators of the speech-a-thon, said he would be back on Monday.

Fellow Georgia Republican Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville is planning to return next Tuesday.