The Democrats’ “sit-in” could mark a change in the way the Congress does business

TAKING an unorthodox stand against legislative intransigence, a cohort of Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives occupied the floor of that chamber at 11:25 am on June 22nd to demand action on gun control. Participants called their act a “sit-in”, a tactic of the civil-rights era whereby protestors plant themselves in a contested space to urge change. Unlike blacks occupying whites-only lunch counters, however, the House Democrats duffed on their own turf. It was 25 hours of stunning political theatre. 

The Democrats insisted that the House hold votes on expanded background checks and a “no-fly, no-buy” bill that would prevent people on the federal terror watch list from purchasing guns, two proposals that foundered on Monday in the Senate. But with only 188 members to the Republican’s 247, the Democrats had no tools at their disposal to wrangle a vote on either bill. In contrast to the Senate, where it is de rigueur for the party in the minority to stage a filibuster to delay a vote or force an issue onto the floor (as Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut did on Monday), nothing in the House rules permits a...Continue reading

Source: United States http://ift.tt/28QKuA7

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