Witnessing the House Revolt     9/26/2008
By Melanie Palazzo

Visiting the Capitol Building of the United States is usually a well-organized experience. Having been a Tour Guide at the Capitol, I know the process well. As a visitor, you move from one line to another, never deviating from the set path every other group followed before you. Visiting the House of Representatives Chamber, most famous for being the host of the President's State of the Union Speech, is never included in public tours.

To enter this chamber, you must visit your Congressman's office and obtain a pass to the House of Representatives Visitor Gallery. Entering the Capitol with this pass, you are directed to the 2nd floor, where you go through another metal detector and surrender all your electronics to a clerk before you are shown into the gallery. You are almost immediately asked to sit down and are scowled upon by the Capitol Police if you even talk in hushed whispers. You look down on the floor below, where, if you are lucky, you will see one Congressman unenthusiastically addressing an empty chamber.

My visit on August 14 was a very different experience. That day, I accompanied Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), to the Capitol Building. We entered the building without a pass in hand, asked for a special room number and received a visitor badge. We wound our way unaccompanied into a part of the Capitol I had only been in once before, the Minority Leader's office, and then we were escorted to the House floor.

The halls outside the floor, though usually quiet and restricted to staff, were filled with unorganized groups of tourists. We jostled our way into the Cloak Room (an anteroom in which normally only congressmen are allowed) where bags and phones were scattered over the couches and floor. We added ours to the collection and stepped onto the floor of the House of Representatives. Wendy led the way to the very front, and we sat down.

To my astonishment, I saw the room was filled with visitors in shorts and flip-flops, staff members, and other individuals dressed in business attire all sitting in the Congressmen's chairs. Through the dim light, a Congressman was speaking in the middle of the floor, raising his voice to be heard. As people continued to stream in and out, the Congressman posed questions to his audience, pausing only for spontaneous bursts of applause.

The entire event was prompted by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), who had quite suddenly closed the House of Representatives for summer recess before Congress could vote on increasing the development of American energy.

In defiance of Speaker Pelosi's actions, conservative Members of Congress decided to revolt. Though the lights and microphones had been turned off and C-SPAN wasn't allowed to broadcast, these Congressmen had flown and driven back to D.C. during their vacations to stand on the floor and speak against the high gas prices, our dependence on foreign oil, and our Nation's energy needs.

The Congressman who spoke during my visit had a chart showing all of America's oil reserves and explained how the oil companies were not allowed to drill there. He argued that with the escalating prices of gas, now was not the time to ignore the energy problem and go home. Now was the time to vote.

The passion with which the Congressman spoke, the interaction with the crowd, the lack of microphones and media - all of it reminded me of an old black and white movie called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. If you've not seen this classic, you should. In it, Senator Smith (played by a young Jimmy Stewart) stands alone on the floor fighting corruption. At one point, when Senator Smith realizes nothing he is saying is getting printed accurately in the newspapers, he cries out, "You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause."

I found out that this courage and attitude is not merely the stuff of old movies; it is found in the Congressmen who led the "Energy Revolt" on the House floor this August.

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Arizona) stated, "We would rather be home in our districts, but we know that we cannot give up this fight." Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-South Carolina) reported that, while a Representative was talking on the floor, he said, "I don't even know if anyone is listening." And someone stood up and said, "America is listening."

I am honored to have been one of those Americans who had the opportunity to listen firsthand.

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