With some small pauses and interruptions, the Democratic Senator for New Jersey Booker beat the longest record pronounced in the history of the United States Senate on Thursday. The previous record dated 1957, when he was talking for 24 hours and 18 minutes to oppose the Civil Rights Law. Booker has given his speech as
Booker, 55 and former football player, could not go to the bathroom all the time of his speech. He had two glasses of water in front. To comply with the rules of the Senate, he had to remain standing. For hours he was talking to a lectern, from which he separated at every moment to take a few steps, but in which he also supported himself from time to time. He wore a wireless microphone.
Yes he had small breaths to listen to questions from his teammates, although making it clear that he did not give them the word, which would have ended his speech. He started his speech on Monday when he got dark, spent the whole night speaking in the hemicycle and 24 hours later he continued with energy to beat the record. His gesture is after the hard defeat last November 5.
When the record approached and the nerves emerged, Booker referred precisely to “perhaps my ego was too carried away by the idea that if I planted me here, perhaps, just perhaps, I could beat this record, that of the man who tried to stop the rights that I defend. However, I am not here for his speech. I am here despite his speech. Powerful, ”he said in that part of his speech.
Booker openly recognized being a descendant at the same time of slaves and slaves. The senator invoked John Lewis, leader of the Civil Rights of Georgia and shortly after, he received a note, looked at his mobile phone and listened You? ”He said while his companions dedicated a long ovation.
It was used to read the electoral laws of the 50 states. At that time, a senator could extend his speech everything he wanted to prevent an issue from voting. That practice was immortalized by James Stewart, in his 1939 film (Knight without sword). There were other memorable real episodes of filibusterism, such as the 1935 speech of 15 and a half hours of Huey Long to try to block the process of the New Deal, in which he resorted to the reading of fragments of the Recentary of Louisiana, such as fried oysters.
Filibusterism is no longer what it was. Republicans and Democrats agreed to bury the practical dysfunctional with a reinforced majority. The Senate rules now allow the debate on an issue to end and submit to processing when 60 senators vote in favor. Filibusterism has thus became active, based on speeches, liabilities: 41 votes are enough to block most bills.
Therefore, Booker did not try to block the processing of any law, but of attracting attention. “We must all look at the mirror and say: ‘We will do better.” “These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said at the beginning of the speech on Monday night, says Associated Press. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. Threats to the American people and American democracy are serious and urgent, and we must all do more to face them,” he added.
The senator rambled for hours against
The cousin and the brother of Booker, as well as Democratic assistants, observed from the gallery of the Chamber. Senator Chris Murphy accompanied Booker in the Senate throughout the day and night, corresponding to the solidarity that Booker had given him in 2016, when Connecticut’s Democrat maintained the use of the word for almost 15 hours to defend the legislation on arms control.
Before beating the Thurmond record, Booker to oppose the affordable assistance law in 2013, the longest speech of a fiscal senator. The Republican senator took it with sportsmanship and sense of humor. “As Cory Booker approaches my 21 -hour obstructionism record, I am thinking of activating fire alarm,” for an incident in the House of Representatives. Then, when he lost his record,
