WASHINGTON — Alaska's sole representative, Don Young, a Republican, was not pleased with the Democrat's "sit-in" that began on the House floor Wednesday night, staged in hopes of forcing the majority to hold votes on gun control legislation.
Young does not share their belief in restricting access to firearms. And he did not think the behavior suited the decorum usually reserved for the House floor. And he certainly did not keep that to himself; at one point he attempted to wrest a microphone away from another lawmaker in a confrontation that caught the eyes of some reporters in the gallery above, but no apparent cameras.
Democratic lawmakers ended their occupation of the House floor Thursday afternoon, more than 25 hours after Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a longtime civil rights icon, took to the floor to begin the planned protest. In response, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, gaveled out the House to recess, and as is customary during recess, cut the camera feed to the House floor that plays on C-SPAN. Lawmakers started streaming their own view from the floor using their smartphones and web platforms Periscope and Facebook, which C-SPAN eventually picked up.
The shutdown didn't mean Republican lawmakers went home: They gaveled back in to force votes on the raucous and protesting crowd of lawmakers about 10 p.m., midnight and 2:30 a.m. The final vote passed a military construction and Zika funding bill and counted towards a new legislative day. In an effort to put an end to the protest, Ryan declared the House in recess a few days early, until July 5.
[Bedlam erupts during House sit-in by Democrats over gun control]
"The action on the House floor was demeaning" to the legislative body, Young said Thursday, still angry about what he felt was sour grapes over a political loss. "It was like a bunch of babies, spoiled, displaying their dislike and not understanding really what they want," Young said, arguing the Democrats did not have a clear plan for passable gun control legislation.
"I'm still burning up in my heart," Young said just after the Democrats decamped from the floor Thursday afternoon. "I take this job very seriously, believe it or not. I take it seriously and I respect the House. It is the House of the People. Not the House of a bunch of spoiled brats and anarchists."
Upset with lawmakers for a loud and unruly scene, all but unrecognizable as U.S. Congress, Young caught the eyes of some of the many Washington reporters who stayed on through the night to document the sit-in, when he tried to wrest the microphone at the start of the 10:05 p.m. votes.
Don Young is being physically restrained from trying to grab mic from Dem lawmakers
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) June 23, 2016
"I wanted to speak into the microphone, and they had taken over our microphone," Young said Thursday, calling it another example of "disrespect" by his colleagues. "I wanted to ask everybody to be quiet for a moment," he said.
An aide appeared to just lead Don Young away from approaching Dems shouting and holding up signs.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) June 23, 2016
Young made sure to clarify he does not "deeply respect the press at all on this issue," comparing the crowd of reporters working late into the night as "crows leaning over the edge" from the press gallery above the floor.
The feelings of disrespect Young felt about Democrats' decorum were not unmatched, as Democrats staging the sit-in argued for their cause, saying that repeated mass shootings — such as those in Orlando, Florida; San Bernardino, California; and Newtown, Connecticut — should demand congressional action and attention.
Several Republicans on floor Heckling, smirking, mocking as we speak about gun deaths. Shameful. #NoBillNoBreak
— Jared Huffman (@JaredHuffman) June 23, 2016
Young disagrees.
Referencing the protesting lawmakers' chants of "No bill, no break," Young asked: "What bill do they want?" He argued the fight on the floor was about gun control, not specific bills.
And in the case of specific options, Young isn't interested either. One option pushed by Democrats Wednesday was a "no fly, no buy" bill that would bar anyone on a terrorism watchlist — barred from flying — from buying a firearm.
Young made headlines when he was accidentally placed on a terrorism watchlist in 2004. It took him six months to get his name cleared, despite the fact that he was, at the time, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a longtime sitting congressman. In an interesting coincidence, the lawmaker leading the sit-in, Lewis, was also mistakenly placed on a no-fly list around the same time, according to several news reports.
A law barring those on the "no-fly" list from buying firearms could sweep up law-abiding citizens. Civil libertarians have charged terror watchlists are opaque and difficult to get off of. There are no notifications and many people find out they're on a list from Transportation Security Agency officials at the airport.
Young argued the law would violate the right to due process in the Constitution's Fifth Amendment and the Second Amendment's right to bear arms at the same time.
And he made clear he's not interested in expanding gun control for any reason, citing the rights of "law-abiding citizens to protect themselves against foreign and domestic enemies."
"And everybody says that it's the gun's fault. That's bull—-. What if it was a gallon of gasoline? You know? What if it was a half a pound of C-4? It's always 'the gun, the gun,'" Young said. "Well you ever think maybe it might be the bad guy?"