House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the House floor on Wednesday to speak about the new budget proposal to avoid a government shutdown, as this plan leaves out immigrants. Her record-breaking eight-hour speech, which began around 10 a.m. ET and did not end until after 6 p.m. ET, addressed the importance of DREAMers (children who arrived in America as undocumented immigrants) and issues that would arise for them because of this budget proposal.
You can watch some of it here:
For so long in politics women and immigrants have been pushed to the side. Women were told they were too emotional to do the job properly, and the government has been too busy giving tax breaks to the upper class to care about how the laws they are passing and policies they are rescinding will affect immigrants.
But for a woman to take the floor for the longest amount of time in history, longer than any man, and demand everyone not only listen to her, but finally pay attention to the consequences of their actions and the reality of the choices they are making is certainly something that will go down in history.
Furthermore, Pelosi’s speech was made even more impressive by the fact that she achieved this wearing four-inch heels and stopping only to have a sip of water here and there.
As @NancyPelosi enters HOUR 9 of her filibuster, here’s a live shot of those much talked about heels: pic.twitter.com/5uOcuB3ybh
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) February 7, 2018
But it had never been about breaking a record or the media attention that would come with it for Pelosi, she just felt called to say what needed to be said and to fight for justice on the rights being denied to DREAMers and DACA recipients. She decided it was about time their voices were heard, and she spent hours reading testimonies from immigrants about their success in America.
While reading testimonies, she received the news that she broke the record for the longest speech. She didn’t throw a party or praise herself for what she had done. She simply laughed, wondering what the record had previously been before continuing on with her speech.
Pelosi set a precedent with her speech, one that will hopefully serve to continue inspiring and empowering women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. She sent a message that these groups, particularly immigrants, were no longer going to be ignored and put on the back burner. Their issues were important and their voices would be heard.
She noted, “We have to be strong as a country … to respect the aspirations of people who are our future, the young people are our future and these dreamers are part of that.”
As she finished her speech, she received a standing ovation from those listening. The audience and those watching at home were clearly thinking, “About damn time.”
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