Sunday, July 22, 2007; A06

Rep. Jan Schakowsky knows a few things about protests. In 1989, she headed a group involved in the legendary uprising by Chicago senior citizens against Medicare changes -- one that featured enraged seniors jumping on the hood of Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski's car.

So when Senate Republicans decided to block a Democratic measure to withdraw troops from Iraq during an all-night debate last week, Schakowsky reached back to her community-activist past. Off the printer came blue fliers: a "Candlelight Call to Action" to "Stop the Republican Iraq Filibuster." At the appointed hour of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, 57 House Democrats gathered to march to a Senate park.

"All they're asking, our Senate Democrats, is that they get an up or down vote," Schakowsky announced as the group gathered. "We're going to go over there and support them. We're going to walk over right now, to the Senate side, down the stairs and out to the park to join them." The crowd responded with whoops and claps.