10:04 AM E.T.
Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, begins her speech on dreamers
06:10 PM E.T.
The 77-year-old Democrat concludes her speech on DACA, breaking the record for the longest speech in House history.
The previous record was held by Representative Champ Clark in 1909: 5 hours, 15 minutes. This was easily broken by Pelosi whose speech ran for a continuous 8 hours. Pelosi broke the 109-year-old House record by three hours — in four-inch heels; no sitting, no breaks.
Pelosi wore four-inch high heels for the entirety of her eight-hour, seven-minute speech. (Fox News)
The purpose of the speech was to pressure Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, to enable representatives the discussion about immigration reform. She specifically targeted the subject of ‘Dreamers’, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — DACA— recipients, whose fate has been undecided since Trump’s declaration to end the program.
Fortunately, a federal judge ordered that the administration must maintain said program until the courts pass final judgment on the decision to end the arrangement, which shielded undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation. Pelosi requested that Ryan follow in the footsteps of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in committing to an immigration bill vote.
The Democrat claimed that she, along with many other members of her caucus, would oppose the budget caps deal if she was not given a substantial promise on the DACA vote. During her speech, Pelosi quoted Bible passages and personal testimonies from DACA recipients.
The minority leader took advantage of her position to deliver this filibuster-style speech, seeing as leaders are allowed additional time, referred to as “magic minutes”. It should be noted that this, however, was not credited as a filibuster, which can only be pursued in the Senate.