Rep. Jan Schakowsky joined Rep. John Lewis for a sit-in on the House floor. (Credit: Twitter)
Rep. John Lewis, the Democratic congressman from Georgia, kicked off a sit-in on the House floor on Wednesday to try to force fellow lawmakers to take action on gun control.
“Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary,” he said, CNN reported. “Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We have been too quiet for too long. There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. Now is the time to get in the way. The time to act is now. We will be silent no more.”
Lewis penned a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying he should keep lawmakers in session instead of taking a recess in order to give time to debate gun control.
“As the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history has underscored, our country cannot afford to stand by while this Congress continues to be paralyzed by politics,” Lewis wrote, in reference to the Orlando terror attack by Omar Mateen that left 49 dead and 53 injured. “We urge you to lead the House into action and work with both sides of the aisle to pass commonsense solutions to keep American children and families safe.”
Rep. Jan Schakowsky tweeted out a picture of herself joining Lewis in the House sit-in, along with this text: “Occupying the House floor w/ @repjohnlewis & other @HouseDemocrats to demand a vote on gun safety. #NoBillNoBreak.”
So did Rep. John Yarmuth, who wrote alongside a photograph of the scene: “I’m on the House floor with @repjohnlewis & Dems staging a sit-in to demand action on commonsense gun legislation.”
He followed that with another: “Proud to sit with @RepJoeCourtney and others demanding action. #GoodTrouble #NoBillNoBreak.”
And this, from Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman: “Shame on you @HouseGOP for thinking a moment of silence is enough. We’ve had enough of the inaction, so we protest!”
Dozens more Democrats joined the event, which Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty said would last “as long as we need [it] to,” even “all day, all night,” CNN reported.
Rep. Scott Peters warned, in his own Twitter message: “After the worst mass shooting in US history, Congress still refuses to act. We’ll be here until that changes.”
Even some on the Senate side expressed interest.
Connecticut’s Chris Murphy, whose own bill in the Senate that tightened restrictions on gun purchases failed to move forward this week, despite his 15-hour filibuster try, popped over the House and joined the sit-in.
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/dems-stage-sit-in-on-house-floor-over-guns/
from WordPress https://toddmsiebert.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/dems-stage-sit-in-on-house-floor-over-guns/
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