The House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee questioned federal officials on Tuesday. GOP grills feds on 'Occupy' protests

Congressional Republicans on Tuesday demanded answers from federal officials on why protesters affiliated with the Occupy movement have been allowed to linger in Washington’s McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza.

The GOP’s main contention at a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing was that the demonstrators – who have “Occupied” those public areas since October — are essentially camping in McPherson Square and are subsequently breaking the law. Protesters stay at the site around-the-clock and in recent weeks, there have been reports of a rodent infestation and an abandoned infant in one of the Occupy tents.


“Stay awake, stay vertical … and you’re welcome to stay here,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee who said he believed the National Park Service had “entered into an ideological fray” with its enforcement of the Occupy protests. “When you need to sleep, go somewhere else and come back.”

Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis acknowledged that some of the protesters were sleeping on the grounds, but that park officials were taking a “measured” approach in enforcing laws at McPherson Square because the situation was “unique.”

“The core of their First Amendment activity is that they occupy a site,” Jarvis told lawmakers. “And we felt that going in right away and enforcing the regulations … against camping could potentially incite a reaction on their part that would result in possible injury or property damage.”

The protesters do have the constitutional right to be at the site 24 hours a day, Jarvis added.

But Republicans didn’t appear satisfied with Jarvis’s responses, with some GOP lawmakers implying a higher-up in the administration was blocking the Park Service from enforcing laws – a contention Jarvis said was untrue.

“You’re not enforcing your own statute,” Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) told Jarvis. “Who’s telling you not to enforce this statute?”

Democrats aired their qualms with the hearing, framing the matter as a First Amendment issue.

“I find it curious that this particular demonstration has risen to the level of a congressional hearing,” said Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.). “The Occupy D.C. movement has not encountered widespread arrests. The vigils are in a concentrated area.”

“Concerns over grass seeds shouldn’t outweigh grassroots efforts to seek improvements and help for our most vulnerable citizens,” added Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). “Nor should rats be allowed to stand in the way of the demand for real reform.”

There was no representative for the Occupy movement at the hearing to testify on their protesters’ behalf – an omission pointed out by D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

“Like most people, the members of Occupy D.C. at McPherson Square do not relish being in uncomfortable conditions that humans without housing have endured for millennia,” read a statement from the group. “We do so because it has become a necessary tactic to express our concern for the country’s direction in a way that will maintain public attention.”