Democrats chanted “No bill, no break!” holding pieces of paper with the names of victims of gun violence across the US. First, Democrats could not repeat their Senate colleagues’ filibuster on the same issue, as House members do not have the same opportunities for unlimited speech-making as their peers in the upper chamber; when a member is recognized to speak on the floor, he or she is given a defined amount of time to talk.
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“We are going to hold the floor of the House of Representatives … until we can get the majority to do their jobs and give us a vote”, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz told CBS “This Morning”. “You’ve been this strong and you’ve been determined”, said Rep. Maxine Waters from California.
“It just keeps happening again and again and again, and we’ve not taken up any legislation in four years despite Newtown and San Bernardino and now Orlando”, Perlmutter said.
Republicans fiercely resisted the pressure and said Democrats had accomplished nothing other than disrupting the business of the House to score political points.
Republicans call the sit-in a publicity stunt.
Democrats from the House of Representatives staged a sit-in on Wednesday to protest lawmakers’ failure to pass legislation created to curtail gun violence in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting.
On June 12, a gunman killed 49 people inside a gay nightclub in Orlando. The assailant also died in the incident.
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. Susan Collins has been negotiating a compromise gun-curb proposal that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said would get a vote on the Senate floor. Chaotic scenes ensued when several Republican representatives charged the chamber floor and yelled at protesting Democrats, prompting a confrontation that almost descended into fisticuffs.
At one point overnight, the two sides almost came to blows after Republican Louie Gohmert of Texas approached the Democrats shouting: “Radical Islam!” The two came within inches of each other, both screaming, only to be separated by colleagues.
The burst of nocturnal activity included recorded votes on some other issues such as the Zika virus.
“The House is scheduled to break on Sunday, and Democrats are demanding a vote on two bills before they go: one that bars anyone on the no-fly list from buying a firearm and another that broadens background checks for firearm purchases”.
Israel knows better. The reality is that in 90 percent of the districts House Republicans represent, there is zero desire from their base to act on guns – and certainly not to do so in response to a Democratic uprising on the floor. Even if all 188 Democrats supported such a move (which is not a foregone conclusion, given the presence of moderate Democrats like the Blue Dogs within the caucus), they would be hard-pressed to find 30 additional Republicans to join them.
Democratic brass, who have struggled mightily to find support for gun control measures, streamed through the House chamber throughout the day.
House Democrats frequently congratulated themselves on staging a protest that was largely unprecedented at the Capitol. Democrats controlling the House at the time turned off the cameras amid a GOP push for a vote to expand oil and gas drilling. Republicans occupied the floor, delivering speech after speech after Pelosi, then the House speaker, sent lawmakers bolting to their August recess.
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So why not turn on the House cameras do the world can see what’s happening here? Rep. Scott Peters kept filming on his cell-phone, though, and Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope transmissions of the proceedings were aired by C-SPAN and other networks. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren joined them as well, with Warren reportedly bringing in Dunkin’ Donuts to cheering legislators.
