Democratic Senator Cory Booker beat the longest speech record in the history of the United States Senate on Tuesday, with an intervention of more than 25 hours, standing against the policies of President Donald Trump.
Booker, legislator for New Jersey, exceeded the brand that had had the Republican Strom Thurmond, a senator who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes to try to block the approval of the Civil Rights Law.
The 55 -year -old senator took the floor at 19.00, local time on Monday (23.00 GMT), with the promise to continue talking while he was “physically possible”, and continued until 20.05 on Tuesday (00.05 GMT on Wednesday), establishing a new record of 25 hours and 5 minutes.
The camera rules prevented him from sitting or going to the bathroom during his speech, to keep the word shift.
As Booker explained, this action arose from his need to raise the stories of Americans harmed by the decisions of the Trump administration, which, in his opinion, has plunged the country into a crisis.
The threats that loom American people and democracy are serious and urgent, and we must all do more to fight them, he said.
During his speech, the Democrat accepted questions from some of his party companions, such as the minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer. This allowed him to rest briefly without losing his turn or sitting.
Booker lashed out at the cuts to the public spending designed by the Government Efficiency Department, directed by Elon Musk; criticized Trump’s hard migratory policies; He read testimonies of people affected by the new government, and also addressed relaxed issues to let the clock run.
When they informed him that he had overcome the record, he got excited and continued speaking a few more minutes, although he acknowledged that he should deal with “some biological emergencies.”
The regulation recognizes the practice of filibusterism to delay debates through prolonged speeches, but it was not the case of Booker, since there was no scheduled vote.
His speech was applauded and praised by the Democratic Party, which seeks to rebuild after the defeat suffered in November against Trump and the Republicans.
In the Senate other marathon speeches are also remembered, such as Republican Ted Cruz in 2013, who spoke for more than 21 hours to try to stop the approval of the health reform of the then President Barack Obama (2009-2017).
The most recent had been that of Democrat Jeff Merkley, who spoke for 15 hours and 26 minutes in protest of the nomination of Neil Gorsuch as judge of the Supreme Court, at Trump’s proposal.
Booker has been a senator since 2013 and is part of the Democratic leadership in the upper house.
In 2020 he presented himself to the elementaries of the party to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination, which Joe Biden finally won.
He is one of the 14 African -American senators who have been chosen in the history of the camera and the first of his state.
It is known, among other things, for leading efforts to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, with the aim of eliminating racist bias in drug controls.