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DefianceBy Seymour Klierly On a cold, dark December night in 1773, several members of the Sons of Liberty boarded three London ships in the Boston Harbor. The Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver anchored quietly in Griffin's Wharf carried tea from the East India Company. Once on board, the Sons of Liberty worked quickly to discard the tea that was intended to be sold at below domestic market prices. The Boston Tea Party, as this act would become known, was one of many sparks that led to our nation's political independence. Some in D.C. are trying to move this nation toward a different type of independence: energy independence. On Friday, August 1, the House of Representatives voted 213 to 197 to adjourn for the typical five week August recess without voting on expanding offshore drilling. Usually, an adjournment vote would be passed with a much wider margin, or possibly by unanimous consent. However, this vote was anything but typical. After spending weeks discussing but not truly debating energy policy on the floor, Republicans finally had enough. Their last stand was to demand that Congress give up its vacation to stay in session and work out some energy compromises. But alas, they could not convince enough of their Democrat brethren to join their effort. Instead of tucking their tails between their legs and trotting back to their districts, a few decided to stay...right there on the floor of the House, continuing to address the crowd. They made their case to all the tourists in the balcony and stragglers who had voted but not yet left the chamber. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had heard enough. Since the chamber was officially out of session, she ordered the microphones, C-SPAN cameras, and lights to be turned off, but this didn't stop them. Congressmen Tom Price (R-GA), Mike Pence (R-IN), and John Shadegg (R-AZ) led the call to vocal arms for their colleagues to stay on the floor and continue the energy debate. Hundreds of tourists who normally are restricted to view debates from the balcony got the special treat of joining the members on the floor. What began as a small protest swelled into a public crusade picked up by news media stationed outside the chamber. That led to a groundswell of support as radio personalities picked up on the message that "Democrats voted to go home instead of fixing gas prices." As excitement grew, one member commented that this act, refusing to leave the chamber, was a modern day "Boston Tea Party." Now, I appreciate and agree that Congress should have stayed to work out their differences on energy policy. However, equating this "defiance" of the tyranny of the majority party to the actions of those brave Bostonians is a bit over the top. When members of Congress are right on an issue, they don't need to exaggerate the importance of their actions. Let the public decide the value of your work, and if they choose to compare you to Samuel Adams then so be it. 8/11/08 Date: 8/6/08
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