From March 31 to April 1, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker gave a record-breaking speech on the senate floor. In Booker’s speech, he criticized the actions of the Trump administration and called for change from the people of America. The speech lasted a total of 25 hours and six minutes.
The previous record for longest senate speech was held by South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes. The 1957 speech was a filibuster in opposition of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This act secured voting rights for Black Americans, something Thurmond did not want to happen.
Booker stated that it did not sit right with him that “the longest speech, on our great Senate floor, was someone who was trying to stop people like me from being in the Senate.”
Unlike Thurmond’s speech, Booker’s was not a filibuster, because he was not trying to prevent any legislation from being passed.
“I rise tonight because I believe, sincerely, that our country is in crisis,” said Booker. “And I believe that not in a partisan sense, because so many of the people that have been reaching out to my office in pain, in fear, having their lives upended, so many of them identify themselves as Republicans.”
Throughout his speech, Booker did not leave the floor, aligning with rules that a senator can speak as long as they “ remain standing,” and “speak more or less continuously.”
“I rise tonight with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” said Booker at the onset of his speech. His speech was dedicated to late Congressman John Lewis, a prominent civil rights activist.
Though Booker was not allowed to sit down without yielding the floor, he took questions from various Democratic Senators, allowing brief breaks from speaking.
Booker criticized various actions of the Trump administration, using both personal statements as well as reading statements from others who were directly affected by recent changes.
“In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the core foundations of our democracy,” Booker said. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.”
Economy and Social Security
“I know so many Americans who live in fear every day that one little thing will happen to them that will destabilize their financial well-being.”
Booker critiqued the Trump administration’s economy by posing a question of whether listeners’ finances were in good condition.
“I don’t see how they could be,” he said. “Because prices are up, stock market’s down, the risk of recession is climbing, consumer confidence is in the gutter.”
Along with these critiques, Booker discussed his concerns about Trump administration social security plans.
“Social security is not the government’s money to spend,” he said. “It’s the hard earned savings of working Americans and it belongs to Americans.”
Booker asserted that Congress has a responsibility to “be good stewards of” taxpayer money, and that this is not done by punishing senior citizens, veterans or Americans with disabilities.
He also took issue with the lack of Congressional involvement in these restructurings.
“It’s Congress that established it, (that) is now not being included in the planning or procedures to try to improve social security or make it more efficient or more effective,” Booker said. “We have not convened hearings or task forces in a bipartisan way to find out what we can do to better serve our seniors.”
Education
“The most valuable natural resource any nation has is the genius of its children.”
One of Booker’s first speech points was Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education. He specifically called out the fact that The Department of Education was established by Congress, but was not being taken down by it.
“The administration wants to dismantle, defund, destroy the Department of Education and scatter its responsibilities across agencies that themselves are going through massive personnel cuts and are not equipped to handle them,” said Booker.
He stated his belief that genius is equally distributed among United States citizens, and that that genius needs to be fostered.
“This is ultimately about whether or not we as a nation believe that every child deserves an education,” he said.
Healthcare
“I’m begging people, don’t let this be another normal day in America.”
Another key part of Booker’s speech centered around American healthcare. Specifically, he critiqued efforts to remove or decrease healthcare funding.
“They are trying to gut medicare and medicaid programs on which a third of our country rely all to pay for these tax cuts. To billionaires and corporations,” said Booker.
In the speech, he invoked the name of late senator John McCain, who notably voted against the American Health Care Act, which would have partially repealed the Affordable Care Act.
“I know you wouldn’t sanction this, I know you would be screaming, I’ve seen how angry you can get, John McCain,” Booker said, speaking directly to the late senator. “I’ve seen you tear people apart on this floor, Democrat and Republican, for doing the same stupid thing over and over again.”
Environment
“At a time that we should be investing in clean energy, this administration is canceling projects that would create more jobs for Americans and lower energy prices.”
Another paramount moment of Booker’s speech involved his opinion on the nation’s need for environmental protections.
“Trump is rolling back common sense environmental protections, threatening our children’s future and hurting our nation’s economy,” he said.
Immigration
“Every single day it just seems our president is challenging constitutional principles, pushing past constitutional boundaries.”
When discussing the matter of immigration, Booker notably shared Canadian woman Jasmine Mooney’s account of her time spent in a Detention Center, despite not being charged with any crime. Mooney described the conditions as inhumane, while also asserting that she was luckier than others.
“Every day we’re hearing new stories of immigrants — some here legally, some awaiting trial. Most charged with no crimes — being rounded up, detained, arrested, deported, often just disappeared,” said Booker. “This is happening without charges, evidence, trials, hearings. Without what the Constitution says: ‘due process’”
Record-breaking
Though Booker took questions from other senators, he at one point told Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that he would not take one. In response, Schumer asked his question anyway.
“Do you know you have just broken the record?” asked Schumer. “Do you know how proud this caucus is of you? Do you know how proud America is of you?”
Despite having broken the record, Booker continued to speak for almost another hour, reiterating much of what he previously said.
“The power of the people is greater than the people in power,” he said.
Though he pledged to do everything he can, Booker stated that his voice is inadequate, and more people need to do what they can as well.
“We the people are powerful. We are strong. We have changed history, we have bent the arc of the moral universe. And now is that moral moment again,” he said. Booker mentioned this idea of a “moral moment” numerous times in his speech, asserting that “it’s not left or right, it’s right or wrong.”
Booker concluded his speech by bringing the conversation back to John Lewis, saying he was sure Lewis would do something about the current state of the nation. Ultimately, he issued a call-to-action, inspired by Lewis:
“He said for us to go out and cause some good trouble.”
Author: Tessa Cheshire
Photos courtesy of Greg Nash, Mark Schiefelbein, Roberto Schmidt, Tom Williams and NBC
Editor: Anna Mower
news@suunews.net
