On the day that House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that any votes on gun legislation were being indefinitely postponed because of infighting within the Republican caucus, House Democrats are united. They took over the floor for nearly two hours to highlight victims of gun violence and to demand votes on their legislation, expanded background checks.
"Mr. Speaker, we have many more to read. We have far more to read. We are far from complete. And we are just talking about 2016. We will continue," Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said Thursday in the latest Democratic expression of civil disobedience on the House floor over inaction on gun control.
Moulton read from a list that included the names and ages of gun violence victims. Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer handed Democratic members a page with each victim’s name and photograph to hold up.
The House then moved to debate on rules for two unrelated bills. At that point, Rep. Jared Polis began using his time to bring up Democratic member after member to ask for unanimous consent to bring up the bills. He kicked it off with Rep. John Lewis (D-GA).
Mr. Polis: [...] It's time for action. And the simple commonsense measures before us offer a good first step to ensure that we get that done. With that, I'd like to yield to our fearless moral leader, the esteemed gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Lewis. For unanimous consent—for purposes of a unanimous consent request. […]
Mr. Lewis: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 2017, the bipartisan extended background checks legislation to honor the memory of Xavier Honor (sp?) a victim of gun violence who never, ever received a moment of silence on the house floor.
For over an hour and a half Thursday afternoon, one Democrat after another has stood up to request a vote on background checks in honor of a victim of gun violence. Every member of the leadership team participated. A defiant Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi all but promised more, scoffing at Republican threats to punish her members for their sit-in last month. "Make my day, make my day," she taunted them Thursday. "What are they going to do, investigate John Lewis for sitting on the floor of the House? […] Will they investigate somebody for using a cellphone on the floor of the House? I don’t think so, but it would be interesting to see."
While House Republicans can't even agree to have a vote on their own legislation that has been pre-approved by the NRA, the Democrats are organized, united, and committed.