Senator Cory Booker Delivers Record-Breaking Speech on Senate Floor
US Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey delivered a marathon address on the Senate floor, surpassing the previous record for the longest speech in Senate history, Al Jazeera reports.
The Democrat’s speech, which began on Monday evening, lasted for over 25 hours.
Booker spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes, exceeding the previous record held by Senator Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in 1957 against the Civil Rights Act. Throughout his address, Booker paused only to address questions from fellow senators.
Booker invoked the words of late civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis, calling on Americans to engage in “good trouble, necessary trouble.”
“What has happened in the last 71 days is a patent demonstration of a time where John Lewis’s call to everyone has, I think, become more urgent and more pressing,” Booker stated. “So, tonight, I rise with the intention of getting in some ‘good trouble.’ I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able. I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”
During his address, Booker criticized recent changes to federal bureaucracy and reductions in staffing at the Social Security Administration.
As he concluded his speech, Booker referenced John Lewis’s history of civil rights activism, emphasizing the importance of taking action and challenging the status quo.
“He said he had to do something, he would not normalise a moment like this. He would not just go along with business as usual,” Booker said.
