Last Livestream? Rep. Katherine Clark Protests New House Rule

Massachusetts residents watched their Congressional representatives take a stand (or, more properly, a seat) this summer over gun control legislation via live online feeds when C-SPAN coverage was cut, but that spectacle may not repeat under new House rules.

As NBC News reports, "House Republicans have proposed punishing representatives who shoot video or take photos on the floor of the chamber — a change in rules seen as a direct response to a dramatic sit-in in June by House Democrats demanding a vote on gun control legislation that was streamed live online."

That new policy could mean fines of up to $2,500 for photo, audio or visual recording/broadcasting from the House floor.

All nine Massachusetts Congressional Representatives and both Senators took part in the Capitol Hill "sit-in" this June. U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark was among the architects of the protest that likely sparked the new rule, planting herself on the House floor before a live-streaming recording, alongside Rep. John Lewis, of Georgia.

Posting on Facebook, Clark criticized the proposed fines, writing:

Rather than take a single vote to prevent gun violence, as their first order of business in the new Congress House Republican leaders will instead seek to punish those of us who speak up about the need to act. They should know this: there is no punishment that will deter me from standing with American families devastated by gun violence.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan told Politico, the changes "will help ensure that order and decorum are preserved in the House."

Top image shared by Rep. Donna F. Edwards via Twitter. In it, Rep. Clark is second from the right.