{"id":58288,"date":"2018-02-08T05:02:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T05:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58288"},"modified":"2018-02-08T05:02:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T05:02:48","slug":"pelosi-held-house-floor-in-advocacy-of-dreamersa-for-more-than-8-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/pelosi-held-house-floor-in-advocacy-of-dreamersa-for-more-than-8-hours.html","title":{"rendered":"Pelosi Held House Floor in Advocacy of ‘Dreamers’a for More Than 8 Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pelosi Held House Floor in Advocacy of \u2018Dreamers\u2019 for More Than 8 Hours<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, took the House floor at 10:04 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, intent on speaking about the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight hours and seven minutes later, she quit talking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her marathon monologue \u2014 highly unusual for the House, which has no equivalent to the Senate filibuster \u2014 appears to have set the record for the longest continuous speech in the chamber, dating to at least 1909, according to the House historian. It tied up the House into the evening, delaying debate on a bill intended to spur competition in the mortgage market.<\/span><\/p>\n

It also demonstrated, yet again, why Ms. Pelosi, 77, of California, remains one of the most enduring \u2014 and to many, infuriating \u2014 figures in Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am reminded that there are members who come to this great chamber to make speeches, and there are those who come to make laws,\u201d an irritated-sounding Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas, said when Ms. Pelosi wrapped up. \u201cWhen it comes to speeches, I would note that the Gettysburg Address came in at two minutes, and Americans may think it had greater eloquence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Pelosi\u2019s speech came as Republicans were scrambling to pass legislation to keep the government open. A short-term funding bill expires at midnight Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Pelosi has said she will not vote for the measure. She was protesting its lack of protection for the Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children and have been shielded from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an Obama-era initiative that President Trump has suspended.<\/span><\/p>\n

In holding the floor for more than eight hours, Ms. Pelosi took advantage of the House\u2019s so-called magic-minute rule, which permits the majority leader, the minority leader and the House speaker to talk as long as they like. According to the House historian, she beat a record set by Representative Champ Clark of Missouri, who spoke for 5 hours and 15 minutes in 1909 to protest a tariff overhaul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Pelosi read heart-rending testimonies from Dreamers who had written their representatives about their lives. There was Andrea Seabra, who is serving in the Air Force, and whose father was a member of the Peruvian Air Force. There was Carlos Gonzalez, who once worked as an aide to former Representative Michael M. Honda, Democrat of California. And there was Al Okere, whose father was killed by the Nigerian police after articles he wrote criticizing the Nigerian government appeared in a newspaper.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point, perhaps running out of stories, Ms. Pelosi suggested she might turn to the Bible. \u201cPerhaps I should bring my rosary, blessed by the pope,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

An estimated 690,000 young undocumented immigrants have been protected under DACA, and roughly 1.1 million more are eligible but did not apply. When Mr. Trump suspended the program in September, he gave Congress six months to come up with a replacement. Democrats and their allies had hoped to use the must-pass spending bill to carry legislation to protect the Dreamers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has promised an open debate in the Senate on immigration legislation, with senators of both parties allowed to offer amendments, if a deal is not reached by Thursday. Ms. Pelosi is calling on Speaker Paul D. Ryan to make a similar commitment in the House.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur basic request is to honor the House of Representatives, give us a chance to have a vote on the floor,\u201d she said as she wound down her talk on Wednesday night.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan, choosing her words carefully, suggested he had no intention of conducting a freewheeling House debate. \u201cSpeaker Ryan has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill \u2014 one that the president supports,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immigrants\u2019 rights advocates, meanwhile, are furious \u2014 not only with Republicans but also with Democrats for failing to exercise their leverage to ensure that the Dreamers would not be left behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want a negotiated solution that\u2019s part of this spending bill, not a vague promise of floor action after it,\u201d said Frank Sharry, the executive director of America\u2019s Voice, an immigrants\u2019 rights group. \u201cWe\u2019re disappointed that a deal was cut without us, and we\u2019re on the outside looking in, and we\u2019re going to ask Democrats and Republicans who care about Dreamers to vote no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/07\/us\/politics\/pelosi-dreamers-budget-deal.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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