State House Protesters, Including Larson, Decry GOP Leaders' Bill To Stop Similar Things In Future
The organizers of a dramatic protest in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives six months ago are blasting a plan by Republican leaders to alter the rules to prevent similar things in the future.
"The proposed changes are tantamount to silencing the minority party and the voices of thousands of gun violence victims — for the benefit of special interests who hold the House floor hostage," U.S. Reps. John Larson and John Lewis wrote in a letter sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the rules change next week, when the newly elected Congress convenes. The proposal would empower the sergeant-at-arms to assess a $500 fine on House members who photograph or record proceedings from the House floor. Additional violations would result in a $2,500 fine.
In June, Democrats staged a surprise occupation of the House floor after a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub killed 49 people. The lawmakers were demanding a vote on gun control legislation, including background checks and a measure that would bar people on the terrorism watch list from legally obtaining a firearm.
The protest lasted more than 24 hours and unfolded live on social media. However, rules prohibit the use of cameras when the House is not gaveled into session and the GOP vowed to punish the Democratic lawmakers, who filmed the protest on their smartphones.
House leaders say the rules change is needed to maintain order in the chamber, but Democrats view the proposal as a "gag rule" to silence the minority party.
"They're placating their Freedom Caucus and the gun lobby," said Larson, a Democrat who represents Hartford and its suburbs in Congress and helped orchestrate the historic protest on June 22 and 23. "They come out with a rule before Congress has even been formed. ... It's a very Putin-like method of strong-arming Congress but fortunately, this isn't the Politiburo."
Rep. Elizabeth Esty, a Democrat who represents Connecticut's 5th District and also partcipated in the protest, called the Republican proposal "unconstitutional and ill-advised" because it delegates the authority to report and fine members to the sergeant-at-arms. In the past, sanctions against individual House members were subject to approval by the full House.
Esty said the protest resulted from frustration with the Republican majority's refusal to allow a vote on gun control bills. "We took extraordinary measures because House leaders have refused to allow us to bring up a bill for debate,'' she said.
Since the 2012 Sandy Hook school shootings, more than 100,000 Americans have been killed in gun violence, Esty said, "and the House has not held a single hearing" on a gun control bill. "This is a public safety issue," she said.
House Republican leaders will "make time for debating rules changes but not for debating what should be Congress' response to stopping the carnage," Esty said.
In their letter to Ryan, Larson and Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, said they view their sit-in as an act of civil disobedience. "We certainly hope your response will not be to silence the voices of gun violence victims on the House floor in an attempt to punish us for our actions" they wrote. "We remain hopeful that commonsense, bipartisan solutions will not be suppressed in the new Congress. I can think of far more egregious things happening within Congress than Members standing up to fight for the rights of petitioning constituents. While we agree with the need to maintain protocol on the House floor, this kind of proposal is unprecedented and amounts to a gag order without due process or the ability [of] members to contest sanctions."