Nancy Pelosi Breaks Record With 8-Hour Speech, Longest In More Than A Century
Wearing four-inch heels and foregoing any breaks, she spent the majority of her time reading letters from Dreamers.
Top US House Democrat Nancy Pelosi made history on Wednesday by delivering the longest address to the chamber in at least 108 years, speaking for more than eight hours about protecting young undocumented migrants from deportation.
The veteran California Democrat, who turns 78 next month, took the floor at 10:04am on Wednesday and began to speak. Ms Pelosi, the minority leader in the US House of Representatives, took the floor to deliver a routine “oneminute” speech.
She concluded her remarks eight hours later, making it the longest speech on record in the chamber.
Ms Pelosi’s lengthy intervention was a dramatic attempt to persuade Republicans to allow a vote on immigration legislation that would protect Dreamers, young undocumented migrants brought to the US as children.
The 77-year-old Democratic leader, wearing four-inch heels and foregoing any breaks, spent the majority of her time reading personal letters from Dreamers, whose temporary protection from deportation is set to expire next month.
She also quoted from the Bible and Pope Francis, laying out the moral case for taking swift action to protect the young immigrants. The Office of the House Historian said it was the longest continuous speech in the chamber on record.
She also read directly from statements by dozens of immigrants known as “Dreamers” -- people who arrived in the United States illegally as children but were protected from deportation under president Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme. In September President Donald Trump ended DACA, but gave Congress several months to craft a solution. If Congress does not act by the March 5 deadline, some 1000 immigrants per day could face deportation.
“Our Dreamers hang in limbo, with a cruel cloud of fear and uncertainty above them,” Ms Pelosi said.
While the Republican side of the chamber was largely empty, dozens of Democrats trickled in to hear Ms Pelosi, or sit behind their leader offering support.