Just after the gavel struck to open the Senate’s only hearing on the Graham-Cassidy Obamacare repeal bill, a group of activists in wheelchairs with the disability rights group ADAPT, broke out into loud chants of “No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty,” bringing the proceedings to a grinding halt.
As Capitol Police officers dragged the protestors out of the hearing room one by one, they continued to chant at full volume. Finance Committee Chair Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), visibly frustrated by the demonstration, banged the gavel repeatedly. “Do you want to have a hearing?” he asked.
When they protesters did not quiet down, he put the committee officially in recess and left the room. Many Democrats and Republicans on the committee remained on the dais, quietly watching the demonstration unfold.
.@NationalADAPT protest disrupts GC hearing. Police begin cuffing people in wheelchairs who waited since 5am to be here pic.twitter.com/TAFQmS8LZ3
— Alice Ollstein (@AliceOllstein) September 25, 2017
As soon as the last protester was removed, Hatch sat back down and gaveled the hearing back in. “Let’s have some order,” he said, as the chants continued to drift in from the hallway outside, where arrests continued. “If you can’t be in order, get the heck out of here.”
The U.S. Capitol Police announced later on Monday that they had arrested 181 protesters in total—15 in the hearing room were charged with “disruption of Congress” and more than 100 others were charged with blocking the hallway and resisting arrest.
“Several of the demonstrators, as part of their protest activities, removed themselves from their mobility devices and lay themselves on the floor, which resulted in USCP officers having to reunite demonstrators with their mobility devices,” said the Capitol Police.
Before the hearing began, one of the ADAPT demonstrators told TPM that he had traveled all the way from Kansas to show his dissent to the bill the Senate may vote on this week, particularly its cuts to traditional Medicaid.
“Medicaid pays for the home care services that people with disabilities need,” Mike Oxford said. “The money will shrink. Those block grants are going to go away. States will not replace that money. States have proven that they’re not as good at protecting, planning, and overseeing these programs. The states have been in charge and they suck at it. That’s why we want federal protections. That’s why I’m here.”
The protesters need to realize that only some voices count as far as the GOP is concerned. They are mostly the voices of people named Koch and Mercier. The rest of us need to sit down and shut up.
How long before the Yam calls Grandma a SOB?
Good.
I’m glad the resistance is fresh.
For a split second, I thought / hoped that it was the GOP Senator’s being arrested for crimes against humanity…
But no such luck, they’re just arresting humanity…
I would listen to the disability advocate from Kansas; that state is a true cautionary tale on bad policy decision-making. I would not trust Sam Brownback with a block grant, and I’m sure this person wouldn’t either.