New House floor rules penalize Americans

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Amid all the news about the Office of Congressional Ethics on Tuesday, there was this:

U.S. House Republicans approved fines — up to $2,500 — for anyone found live streaming or taking pictures on the House floor.

It should be very, very clear to U.S. citizens that this is not a measure intended to heal relationships between the Republican and Democratic parties. This is not in place to “drain the swamp” or encourage bi-partisan collaboration — collaboration we the people deserve.

The U.S. House of Representatives already has the authority to cut off public C-SPAN cameras, because the House only runs the cameras during formal session.

That means that, like this summer, when the House Democrats erupted in an unprecedented sit-in, the American people have no legal right to view in real time the chaos happening in their own public buildings.

Mobile technology was pretty instrumental in the House Democrats’ June sit-in demanding gun legislation be brought to a vote. Although the sit-in ultimately failed, the use of Periscope and other live-stream platforms by Congressional Democrats learning the apps on the fly was a powerful window what seemed like an increasingly failing party system for Americans. It’s important to note that using personal devices for photography was already banned on the House floor before all of this, although it was apparently not strictly enforced.

Still, this is an astounding turn to anyone who claims to care about transparency within the government. This is a literal fine on elected officials exercising freedom of speech and the freedom to inform those for whom they serve. America cannot be exceptional if we join countries that penalize minority dissension — that’s what Russia and China do.

It should be embarrassing to all Americans that their elected officials have chosen to begin a session this way.

Here’s U.S. Rep. Steve King’s (R-Ia.) Washington D.C. phone number: 202-225-4426. Tell him why you care to see the House floor.

Charles City Press reporter Kate Hayden can be reached at khayden@charlescitypress.com.

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