PenceBlog: "Republicans will not go quietly!" - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

Congressman Pence and a group of other Republican lawmakers decided that there was still some work left to do before leaving town. While Speaker Pelosi and the rest of House Democrats decided to adjourn the Congress for a five-week recess, Congressman Pence rallied his Republican colleagues to continue speaking out about the direction this Congress needs to move in order to effectively address the energy crisis facing our country...even if the microphones, the lights and the cameras were all turned off! This has been picking up steam in the media...

[click on images below for their stories]

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess.

Gesturing toward the tourists still filling the visitor's gallery above, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said: "Tell your friends the Republicans refuse to go quietly!"

The GOP may not be going quietly, but they haven't been amplified, either. "The microphones have been on, and they have been off, and by God's grace, I can not tell whether right now whether they are on or they are off!" Pence shouted.

After the House officially adjourned and the C-SPAN cameras were off, a few dozen Republicans remained on the floor giving impassioned speeches about Democrats' decision to adjourn without a vote on their energy plan.

"Republicans will not go quietly," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. "Let us demand that the president of the United States ... call a special session of this Congress on energy."

The microphones are off, the C-SPAN cameras are no longer running in the House chamber, but all is not silent as a group of House Republicans has stayed behind to continue to speak about energy issues.

Chanting “work, work, work,” a band of House Republicans staged protests on the House floor and refused to leave the chamber on Friday after Democrats pushed through an adjournment resolution in an attempt to cut off Republican speeches.

The House voted 213-197 at 11:23 a.m. to adjourn, but Republican conservatives eager to speak on high gas prices were unwilling to disperse, and their guerrilla campaign was quickly embraced by House Republican leaders.

Hoping that the nation's energy problem will go away if they just go home and ignore it for a few weeks, the Democrats have voted to adjourn early, turned off the lights in the lower chamber, and are trying to lock the doors to make sure no business can be done until September.

The fly in the ointment? Fifteen or so 22 House Republicans, led by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), refused to leave the floor, where -- after the Democrats turned off the lights and the microphones -- they continued talking gas prices and energy solutions, which the House was scheduled to do this afternoon already before Pelosi, et al declared an early adjournment.

As their effort went on, GOP members escorted tourists onto the House floor to watch the highly unusual proceedings. “You probably came here expecting to be bored,” said Rep. Mike Pence , R-Ind. “We are disappointing you.’’

At 11:23a.m. today, the U.S. House adjourned for a month-long recess, but on Capitol Hill, political theater knows no fixed time or season. A few dozen House Republicans refused to leave the House chamber Friday afternoon, doing their best Jimmy Stewart impression in protest of Democratic leaders declining to bring up legislation that would allow expanded oil drilling in the United States.

Joined by a bevy of staff and summer interns, the Republican lawmakers donned mostly straight faces for an afternoon of speechifying without microphones, C-SPAN or their Democratic counterparts.

“How many of you remember the Boston Tea Party?” Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona asked the raucous crowd. “This is the Boston Tea Party!”

Texas Republican Rep. John Culberson and Michigan Republican Rep. Pete Hoekstra sent play-by-play dispatches about the pep rally via Twitter, an online messaging service. Indiana Republican Rep. Mike Pence, a former radio talk show host, called in to one of his brethren, Rush Limbaugh, to apprise nationwide listeners of the details. Another Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady came to the House floor with suitcase in hand, saying that he’d walked out of his scheduled flight home to join the rally.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri said the group of members – comprised largely of the conservative wing of the Republican caucus — had themselves come up with the idea, with Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Price and Pence, taking the lead to stage the protest.

You can read more details about what happened here, but in a nutshell, Democrats voted on Wednesday to recess for five weeks (a motion that cleared by one vote, without a single Republican voting to recess) without taking any action on the energy issue. With Congress recessing after today, Republicans planned a maneuver to extend today's session as long as possible to make a point about the Democrats inaction. Democrats caught wind of the plan and motioned to adjourn before being foiled by the Republicans.

So what did the Republicans do? Even as the House Democrats left town running scared, they stayed on the floor of the House. House Republicans are still railing against the House leadership and are orating like their lives depend on it, to anyone who will listen about the need for cheaper gas and energy. The C-SPAN cameras have been shut off (C-SPAN has no control over them), the Democratic leadership made the sergeant-at-arms kill the microphones, and they even at one point tried to turn off the lights.

It's summer, so there are no shortage of tourists trying to get in to witness what promises to be a heck of a civics lesson. They're lined up out the door, and being that the House is out of session, the G.O.P. has even opened up the floor seats to visitors. Every five minutes or so the throngs of citizens would erupt into loud applause and cheering at something that was being said. One source on the Hill I spoke with was calling this "The Guerilla Congress."

You’ve got to love this. And forgive us, if we get a little carried away with song lyrics and such.
The House Republican leadership is in a bit of a revolt, dancing in the dark at times, if you will.

It seems that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the Democratic majority in her chamber, channeled a little Donna Summer as they walked out the door for the summer recess.

“Dim all the lights sweet darling, because tonight it’s all the way,” to quote Ms. Summer. We’d add — all the way home to face that election music, high gas prices at the pump and all that.

Earlier, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., told FOX News: "Many of us speaking on the floor today, including the Republican leadership, believe the president of the United States should call this congress back into session immediately under Article II of the Constitution, and demand that this Congress deal with the issue of energy independence."

No word from the White House had yet filtered down, however.

***

Afterwards, Congressman Pence and other House Republicans held a press conference to let the American people know what was going on.

posted by Pence Press Office # 11:29 AM