"What I am giving up really is getting my house in order" for the missionary farewell and wedding. "I am missing a lot of weeding. I actually enjoy yard work, but my other kids have volunteered to step in."

Bishop said his main message at the protest will be about "the impact this (high oil prices) has on poor people. If you are rich, high oil prices are an annoyance — and take about 11 percent of your income. If you are poor and living on a fixed income, about 50 cents of every dollar you have goes for energy."

He said he will also talk, to whomever is listening, about how GOP proposals would reward innovation in distributing and developing energy.

As a former history teacher, Bishop says what is happening on the technically closed House floor is historic. "Since even pre-Civil War times, I don't think anything this spontaneous and dramatic has happened before," he said.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com