As the title of her new book suggests, the Speaker knows she had the power to avoid this uprising altogether. Rather than working with Republicans to bolster America's energy production, conservation and innovation, on Aug. 1, Democrats voted to adjourn Congress for a five-week break while American families and small businesses were left hanging in the balance. Refusing to be silenced, Republicans stayed on the House floor after the Democrats' left town to continue promoting our strategy for energy independence to those watching on television. The Speaker responded by dimming the lights, shutting down the cameras and turning off the microphones.

Led by my colleagues Mike Pence from Indiana and Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland from Georgia, some 50 Republicans refused to go home that day, choosing instead to stay in the chamber for hours, speaking to Americans sitting in the gallery - and later, on the House floor - about our plan to bring down prices at the pump. Since that first day, 114 Republicans have taken part in the floor revolt - a truly unprecedented event, the likes of which I have never seen in my nearly 18 years in Congress. And in communities across the country, all 199 House Republicans are taking our plan for American energy independence directly to the American people - in Rotary Club meetings, at gas stations and in our local newspapers.