House GOP Refuses to Take Summer Vacation without a Vote on Energy, Stages Week-Long Sit-in on House Floor
Last Friday, August 1st, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) adjourned the House of Representatives for the five-week August recess after refusing to allow Congress to vote on legislation to increase the supply of American-made energy and to address the high price of gas.
Just after the lights and the microphones were turned off in the House gallery and C-Span had stopped its live coverage, dozens of Republican Members, led by Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), delivered a letter to Speaker Pelosi demanding that she call the House back into an emergency session this month to debate and vote on this issue. They then proceeded to loudly debate the energy issue in front of hundreds of U.S. citizens, who they freely welcomed into the House gallery to listen and participate. Some representatives even received standing ovations from the crowd after they concluded their off-the-cuff but passionate speeches.
Since no media or cameras are allowed in the House gallery because Congress is technically "out of session," GOP Members and staff have sent out "A Call to Action on American Energy" to encourage all interested American taxpayers who happen to be in the Washington, D.C. area, even if they are just visiting as tourists, to come to the House floor this week to lend their support by listening and by voicing their concerns in front of dozens of Congressmen.
Remember, democracy doesn't work unless you participate! If you want Congress to reconvene this month and to address the energy issue before the summer is over, the Congressmen pushing this debate are urging you to take action in any or all of the following ways:
Attend the open debate in the House gallery if you happen to be in the Washington, D.C. area.
Report on what you see after you attend, since the press is restricted from the event.
Blog, blast email alerts, call reporters, write op-eds in your local newspapers, etc. and let your family and friends know what is going on.
Flood Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office phone lines with calls, asking her to call Congress back to D.C. for an emergency session.
Capitol Hill office phone: 202-225-0100
Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Members who have stayed in town and participated in the protest thus far: Reps. Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (R-UT), Blunt, Boehner, Boozman, Brady, Broun, Brown (R-SC), Burgess, Campbell, Cantor, Moore-Capito, Carter, Cole, Conaway, Culberson, Dent, Fallin, Fortenberry, Foxx, Gohmert, Herger, Hoekstra, Hunter, King (R-IA), Lungren, Manzullo, McCarthy (R-CA), McCotter, Nunes, Pence, Pickering, Platts, Poe, Porter, Price, Putnam, Sali, Shadegg, Shimkus, Smith (R-NE), Turner, Walberg, Walden, and Westmoreland.
