Quite a scene today on the House floor as Congressman Ted Lieu tries to make a very serious point about the separation of children from their immigrant parents. He did so using the sound ProPublica obtained from inside one of the detention centers, but this didn’t go over well with the Republican chair. USA Today reports:
“Lieu asked people watching to imagine how the kids who have been separated from their families must feel before suddenly playing audio of children crying and calling out to parents on the House floor. The heart-wrenching audio played for nearly 40 seconds before Rep. Karen Handel, R-Ga., who was sitting the speaker’s chair presiding over the floor, called on Lieu to suspend his speaking. Handel said Lieu was “in breach of quorum.”
Lieu pushed back saying that there was no rule prohibiting him from playing sounds. Handel said there was a rule that prohibited the use of electronic devices to play audio.”
wow. @tedlieu is playing the ProPublica audio of crying children inside a detention center on the House floor. And the chair is trying to stop it bc its a violation of House rules
— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) June 22, 2018
JUST IN: On the US House floor, Rep. Lieu plays audio of children at detention facilities, despite being ruled out of order by the chair: "Why are we hiding this from the American people?" pic.twitter.com/hc3VbGUOSO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 22, 2018
2300 kids were ripped away from parents with no real plan to reunite them. I can't play the @ProPublica audio of their cries for help because of "decorum"? F*ck decorum. @realDonaldTrump engaged in the functional equivalent of kidnapping. The American people need to hear this. https://t.co/x47nAebmDZ
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 22, 2018
Watch the full exchange above.
