WASHINGTON -- Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a congressman known for historic contribution to the civil rights movement, is leading a sit-in on the House floor Wednesday to push Republicans to address gun violence.
Connecticut's U.S. Representatives, John Larson, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes, and Elizabeth Esty participated as well.
"Sometimes you have to do something out of the ordinary. Sometimes you have to make a way out of no way. We have been too quiet for too long," the Democratic civil rights leader said, as nearly 30 of his colleagues came to join him on the floor. "There comes a time when you have to say something, when you have to make a little noise, when you have to move your feet. This is the time. Now is the time to get in the way. The time to act is now. We will be silent no more."
The group the chanted from the floor: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!" and "No bill, no break!" while the House remained in recess at 1 p.m.
Around 10 p.m., as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan tried to get regain order to hold votes on overriding President Obama's veto of a bill that would repeal the fiduciary rule, those participating in the sit-in began chanting "no bill, no break!" They also held signs with gun victims' photos on them as they chanted over him while the vote took place. They also sang "We shall overcome."
As Ryan left the podium, Democrats booed and some shouted, "Shame, shame."
The extraordinary unrest continued throughout the vote on labor legislation.
Ryan said earlier the House won't vote on gun control legislation. He called the Democrats' action Wednesday a publicity stunt and said Congress won't do anything that could undermine the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.
Ryan said Wednesday afternoon, "The House cannot operate without members following the rules of the institution, so the House has recessed subject to the call of the chair."
Last week, Senator Chris Murphy and other Senate Democrats held a nearly 15-hour filibuster on the senate floor, demanding action on gun legislation there. Sen. Murphy walked over and joined the sit-in.
After his action, the Senate held a vote on four gun measures, but failed to gather enough bipartisan support to pass any of them.
Lewis wrote a letter to Ryan demanding that he keep the House in session through its planned recess to debate and vote on gun control legislation. The move was the latest in a long string of failed attempts at enacting tighter curbs on firearms in the United States.
"As the worst mass shooting in our nation's history has underscored, our country cannot afford to stand by while this Congress continues to be paralyzed by politics," the Georgia Democrat wrote.
"Give us a vote. Let us vote. We came here to do our job. We came here to work. The American people demand action," Lewis added.
Former President Bill Clinton tweeted his encouragement for Lewis, writing, "This is leadership" and linking to Lewis' tweet about the sit-in.
A lifelong activist for civil rights, Lewis was beaten more than 50 years ago so badly by Alabama state troopers that they fractured his skull.
The then-25-year-old and hundreds of peaceful protesters were marching for voting rights across the Edmund Pettus Bridge when the troopers and a posse led by the sheriff attacked the activist. That day -- March 7, 1965 -- became known as Bloody Sunday.
With additional reporting by the Associated Press and FOX 61.
