U.S. Rep. John Lewis led Democrats in a surprise sit-in of the House chamber on Wednesday afternoon as the party pushed Republican leaders to allow for debate and votes on gun control legislation 10 days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The rare form of protest began shortly before noon, when the Atlanta Democrat and civil rights icon stepped into the well of the House for a searing five-minute speech urging the chamber to act in the memory of people who have been killed by gun violence.
“We were elected to lead, Mr. Speaker,” Lewis said. “We must be headlights and not taillights. We cannot continue to stick our heads in the sand and ignore the reality of mass gun violence in our nation.”
Lewis was flanked by two-dozen Democratic colleagues who at the culmination of his remarks physically sat down on the chamber’s blue carpet in protest. A letter the group sent to Speaker Paul Ryan stated the House should not leave for its weeklong Fourth of July recess before considering legislation that would expand background checks and prevent people on the government’s terror watch list from buying firearms. Similar proposals were rejected by the U.S. Senate earlier this week amid vocal opposition from gun rights groups.
The Republican leaders who control the House floor quickly recessed the chamber, which subsequently cut C-SPAN’s video feed of the floor proceedings.
But the action did not end there.
Scores more House Democrats quickly streamed into the chamber, as did many of their Senate colleagues, including Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
The group fanned out from the center of the House chamber — Lewis sat at the center, his back up against the desk typically reserved for the clerk, his legs out in front of him — with some huddled on the floor with Lewis and others in seats. Lawmakers shot contraband photos and videos as they went up one by one to the podium to express their solidarity to the group.
Some lawmakers used their remarks to read off the names and ages of the 49 people shot in the June 12 Orlando attack. Others talked about the shootings their own districts have experienced in recent years. Nearly all riled the crowd, chanting “no bill, no break” and “hold the floor.”
Hold the floor they did, as the night wore on. The Democrats said they had no endpoint in sight.
“It’s up to them to act,” Lewis said of Republicans in a brief interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But we’re going to continue to occupy the well of the House and the floor.”
GOP leaders, meanwhile, publicly avoided addressing the sit-in, instead focusing on the party’s rollout of a plan to replace Obamacare at an event across town. The party later called a private meeting on Capitol Hill for early Wednesday evening.
While Ryan had the authority to direct the House sergeant at arms to physically remove the Democrats from the floor, he chose not to use it. The Wisconsin Republican’s spokeswoman did issue a statement saying, “The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair.”
Earlier in the week the GOP rebuffed Democratic attempts to force a vote on so-called “no fly, no buy” legislation that would block people on the government’s no-fly list from buying firearms. Across the Capitol dome, plans were in the works to vote on such legislation this week.
Two Democrats said the House sit-in was planned in advance by a small group but quickly grew in size organically as dozens of other members of the party opted to join in on the House floor. A party aide said the sit-in is part of a week of disruptions the Democrats have planned to bring gun violence to the forefront.
Senate votes on gun control legislation came about after Democrats staged a nearly 15-hour talk-athon on the floor. But the U.S. House functions much differently, and congressmen unlike their Senate colleagues cannot filibuster in order to force the hand of the chamber’s leaders.
About the Author
