As Paul just wrote on the Sunlight Blog, there’s quite a scene developing this afternoon on the House floor, as House Republicans gather for what Rep. Culberson is calling a “peprally” about offshore drilling and energy. It’s hard to get good updates on what’s happening, but I have a question:
(For details, here’s coverage from the Politico)
Is this against House Rules? (pdf)
1. The Hall of the House shall be used only for the legislative business of the House and for caucus and conference meetings of its Members, except when the House agrees to take part in any ceremonies to be observed therein. The Speaker may not entertain a motion for the suspension of this clause.
from Rule XVII: (probably doesn’t apply, since this isn’t a session of the House)
7. During a session of the House, it shall not be in order for a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to introduce or to bring to the attention of the House an occupant in the galleries of the House. The Speaker may not entertain a request for the suspension of this rule by unanimous consent or otherwise.
and Rule I:
3. Except as otherwise provided by rule or law, the Speaker shall have general control of the Hall of the House, the corridors and passages in the part of the Capitol assigned to the use of the House, and the disposal of unappropriated rooms in that part of the Capitol.
Here’s Paul’s post:
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Twitter and Qik Cover Pro-Oil Drilling Protest in House
POSTED BY
Paul BlumenthalBen Pershing at the Washington Post writes, “If a party stages a protest on the House floor but no one can see or hear it, does it make a sound?” Yes, it makes a tweet.
After adjourning for the annual summer recess, House Republicans took to the floor to protest the failure of the House to hold a vote to allow offshore drilling. Since the protest happened after adjournment was announced, the House cameras and lights were turned off. While Republicans shouted from the floor and journalists hurried to see what was happening, GOP Rep. John Culberson was tweeting away the happenings from the floor. Culberson even let some other lawmakers take over his account including Roy Blunt, Adam Putnam, John Shimkus, Tom Price, Ted Poe, Virginia Foxx, and John Shadegg. Culberson’s tweets marked yet another moment where Twitter broke a story before it could make it to the news.
Culberson is also Qiking the event. Pretty cool stuff.
But, Twitter isn’t the only angle to this story. These lawmakers aren’t simply taking to the floor to demand help for gas consumers, they are pushing a central facet of the oil industry’s legislative agenda: offshore drilling. Just yesterday it was announced that, yet again, ExxonMobil broke the record for largest quarterly profit pulling in $11.7 million.
And as many can predict, the oil industry is very liberal in its contributions to the campaigns of congressmen who support their agenda. Let’s start with the lawmakers who are mentioned as on the floor by press accounts and Rep. Culberson’s tweets:
Career Contributions from Oil & Gas Companies. Brady, Kevin (R-TX) $369,797 Blunt, Roy (R-MO) $362,248 Culberson, John (R-TX) $301,961 Boehner, John (R-OH) $185,000 Shimkus, John (R-IL) $184,161 Pence, Mike (R-IN) $150,950 Poe, Ted (R-TX) $128,650 Shadegg, John (R-AZ) $119,495 Putnam, Adam H (R-FL) $70,300 Foxx, Virginia (R-NC) $47,100 Sali, William T (R-ID) $43,000 Price, Tom (R-GA) $24,500 That’s a lot of money on the floor of the House right now.
Posted: August 1, 2008 – 2:54 pm. Tags: Campaign Finance, John Culberson, Off-shore drilling, Oil drilling, Oil Industry, Qik, Twitter
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2 responses so far ↓
Ron Dreag // Aug 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm
So what if republicans get money from oil companies, at least they are up front about their goals vs. pretending to be a transparency org but being a left wing attack group.
John Wonderlich // Aug 1, 2008 at 4:28 pm
We have a long history of having a solid relationship with both parties. Your claim is going to be hard to back up.
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