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Sit-in spurs late-night clash on House floor
| CNN | - |
Washington
(CNN) Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives are in a
dramatic standoff over how to resolve a sit-in entering its second day.
Sit-in spurs late-night clash on House floor
Story highlights
- Democrats are holding sit-in to demand vote on gun control
- Republicans will try to hold a vote instead on Zika funding
Washington (CNN)Democrats
and Republicans in the House of Representatives are in a dramatic
standoff over how to resolve a sit-in entering its second day.
Democrats,
led by civil rights icon John Lewis, took control of the chamber
Wednesday morning demanding a vote on gun control legislation. But
Republicans are resisting, saying they don't want to give in to such
protest tactics.
The
tension exploded onto the floor just after 10 p.m. ET when Republican
Speaker Paul Ryan gaveled the chamber into order to hold a procedural
vote on an unrelated matter. An extraordinary scene unfolded as throngs
of Democrats -- some holding signs with the names of victims of gun
violence -- remained in the House well chanting "no bill, no break" and
"shame shame shame." They also sang the protest anthem "We Shall
Overcome."
Democrats shout 'no bill, no break' on House floor 01:25
Such
displays would normally be prohibited but Ryan, sensitive to the
attention being paid to the sit-in, declined to enforce the traditional
order in the House.
The House
returned to session around 1 a.m. Thursday morning to hold another
series of votes, prompting further objections from sit-in participants.
The
political world started Wednesday focused on insults flying between
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. But the sit-in refocused attention on
Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have been unable to act on gun control
legislation in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting. And Lewis, 76,
perhaps the most prominent of the 1960s-era civil rights leaders still
alive, said it reminded him of his early days protesting to end
segregation.
"We're going to continue to sit in and sit down," he said Wednesday night. "By sitting in and sitting down, we're standing up."
The
showdown spilled into Thursday as Republicans are expected to hold
another vote -- this time on a funding measure to combat the Zika virus.
"With the threat of the Zika
virus -- to pregnant women especially -- we must pass this bill before
we leave town and that's our drive and our goal and I'm hopeful that we
will not see obstructionism by certain members of the House and or the
Senate to keep that from happening," House Appropriations Committee
Chairman Hal Rogers told reporters.
The
big question is whether Democrats will be allowed to remain in the
chamber overnight. GOP leaders are discussing holding a series of votes
early Thursday morning and then adjourning for the July 4 recess.
Numerous
Democrats, asked repeatedly when they planned to leave, said they would
stay in place until they got a vote on gun control. In a roundtable
with reporters Wednesday afternoon, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
reiterated that point, saying Democrats would continue the sit-in "until
we have a bill."
Ahead of the
vote, dozens of Democratic House members gathered around Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer as he equated their sit-in with the civil rights protests
led by figures like Lewis and Rep. Jim Clyburn five decades ago.
"We stand here saying Paul Ryan, help give us the right to vote on these two bills, make America safer!" Hoyer said.
As
the two sides raced to the night-time showdown in the House, staff
brought in food, pillows and even sleeping bags. Lawmakers even
announced they had brought in battery packs to keep the livestream on
Periscope going through the night.
"I think we are going to work through the evening!" Clyburn promised to cheers.
The
U.S. House controls the cameras on its floor, so live video footage was
not available during the sit-in, which occurred while the House was in
recess, though many lawmakers tweeted images or streamed live video via
smartphones.
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer,
Ryan dismissed the sit-in effort as a "publicity stunt." Behind closed
doors, he promised Republicans they would vote on an unrelated veto
override measure and Zika funding legislation.
The
sit-in follows the shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub earlier this
month that killed 49 people -- the deadliest incident of gun violence in
American history. The shooting is renewing the debate over gun control
legislation, which seems poised to go nowhere in Congress. The Senate
blocked several gun measures Monday even as a CNN/ORC poll this week found that public support for changes such as tighter background checks hovers around 90%.
Several Republican congressmen criticized the sit-in as a political stunt.
"Calling this a sit-in is a disgrace to Woolworth's," Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina tweeted. "They sat-in for rights. Dems are 'sitting-in' to strip them away."
Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted,
"Democrats are staging a sit-in on the House floor. They refuse to
leave until our Constitution replaces due process with secret lists."
As
the sit-in continued, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
used the opportunity to fundraise, with Pelosi telling supporters, "I
need 6,000 gifts in the door during tonight's sit-in. Will you pitch in
$1?"
The sit-in evoked memories of
a protest by House Republicans in August 2008 to push for a vote on
offshore drilling. When Pelosi, then the House speaker, adjourned the
House for Congress' summer recess, a handful of House GOP members
remained as the lights and microphones inside the chamber were turned
off and House cameras, controlled by the speaker's office, were switched
off.
'This is leadership'
Democrats
rallied behind the sit-in. Some, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts, joined the sit-in while others delivered snacks and
sodas.
Lewis was also encouraged by President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton.
"Thank you John Lewis for leading on gun violence where we need it most," Obama tweeted.
Clinton tweeted his praise, writing, "This is leadership" and linking to Lewis' tweet about the sit-in.
Lewis
organized sit-ins at segregated lunch counters after being inspired to
join Martin Luther King Jr.'s crusade for equality and eventually led
the mass march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on
Bloody Sunday in 1965, one of the epochal events in American history.
Lewis was beaten so badly by Alabama state troopers that they fractured
his skull.
Democratic brass, who
have struggled mightily to find support for gun control measures,
streamed through the House chamber throughout the day. More than 100
House Democrats took part in the sit-in and a steady stream of Senate
Democrats walked across the Capitol to join in the protest.
As
DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz recounted reading the
resignation letter from former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was wounded in a
shooting in 2011, from the same House lectern four years ago, she began
tearing up.
"No more Auroras, no
more Orlandos!" she shouted, to a standing ovation. Pelosi, who led
Hillary Clinton into a meeting with congressional Democrats just hours
before the sit-in began, stood and applauded with the other Democratic
congressmen and senators gathered in the chamber.
And later, as Wasserman Schultz got up to leave, Lewis hugged her.
As
the sit-in gathered momentum, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy,
a prominent gun control advocate following the Sandy Hook school
massacre in 2012, walked over and joined the sit-in. The lawmaker led a
nearly 15-hour filibuster in the Senate last week asking lawmakers to
vote on gun reform. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Illinois Sen.
Dick Durbin also joined the group.
Pelosi joined a couple dozen
gun control activists Wednesday afternoon on the steps of the Capitol
and vowed Democrats would continue until Ryan scheduled a vote.
One
activist, a mother who held a picture of her daughter who was killed in
a gun incident, urged people to call the speaker's office, and said he
was listening to the gun lobby instead of citizens.
"Green
paper is more valuable than red blood," the activist shouted,
suggesting contributions from gun rights groups were influencing GOP
leaders' decisions.
White House
spokesman Josh Earnest said the lawmakers participating in the sit-in
were showing the kind of "frustration and even anger that people around
the country have about the inability of the Republican-led Congress to
take common sense steps that would protect the American people."
"I
think they're resorting to what I think even they would acknowledge is
an extraordinary step to change the status quo in the House of
Representatives that prevents even consideration of common sense gun
safety legislation," Earnest said.
By
Wednesday night, Democrats were digging in for the long haul and
discussing the potential of remaining on the floor through Friday.
California Rep. Judy Chu tweeted a photo of pizza boxes that she says
were sent by Californians, and Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Maryland, tweeted a
photo of her clutching a pillow, suggesting she was ready to spend the
night in the House chamber.
Asked
what would happen if Republican leaders turn off the lights in the
chamber, Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky simply replied, "it will be dark."
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