The Democratic takeover of the House floor, which has been going on for nearly 24 hours and has featured a steady stream of speeches, singing, praying and talking directly to observers in the gallery, hardly exists at all in the Congressional Record.
Democrats spoke for hours on end in their sit-in, and called up speaker after speaker to complain about the lack of progress on gun control legislation. By early this morning, they ran through all their scheduled speakers, and began the rotation again.
But the entire protest happened outside of regular House business, without the microphones on and without any formal recognition by the chamber. That’s why the Congressional Record offers just scant evidence that it ever happened.
Democrats started warming up for their protest during morning hour speeches Wednesday, and the Congressional Record does have a record of those remarks. The speech from Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., just before the sit-in began is recorded.
“Now is the time to get in the way,” Lewis said as Democrats gathered around him just before noon. “The time to act is now. We will be silent no more. The time for silence is over.”
The last sign of the sit-in is a comment from House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “Mr. Speaker, we sit down so we can stand up for America,” he said.
But after that, the record just notes a declaration that the House is in recess.
In real time, nearly 11 hours elapsed during which Democrats ran the chamber and spoke out on gun control. But the record skips over that, and the next entry simply notes a return from recess at about 10 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is recorded asking members to conduct floor business “in a fashion that reflects positively on the dignity and decorum of this institution.”
But there’s no reference at all to the loud cheering and chanting from Democrats as Ryan spoke, and after noting a few quick votes, the House went back into recess again.
It happened again, when Republicans reconvened to end the legislative day, and then open a new day to quickly approve a spending bill that includes the GOP’s $1.1 billion proposal to fight Zika.
After that, the House adjourned until after July 4, with no other trace of the Democratic protest that even now continues on the House floor, unofficially.
