Republicans who pressured House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) into taking up a bill to defund Obamacare and risk a government shutdown are following in the tradition of two American civil rights icons, according to one GOP lawmaker.

“It only takes one with passion — look at Rosa Parks, Lech Walesa, Martin Luther King,” Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), who was elected to the House last year, told the New York Times in a story published Friday. “People with passion that speak up, they’ll have people follow them because they believe the same way, and smart leadership listens to that.”

The House passed on Friday a continuing resolution that will provide funding for the government but defund the health care law. Passage of the bill, which has no chance of winning approval in the Democratic-controlled Senate, greatly raises the risk of a government shutdown.