Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Second Floor Address Against Defunding the Affordable Affordable Care Act: Highlights from a Long Day with Ted Cruz

The senators each spoke for several minutes about issues Booker mentioned, from Medicaid to tariffs to national security. They asked Booker questions that allowed him time to elaborate on their issues of choice, and praised his persistence.

Booker yielded the floor periodically to several Democrats, including Murphy, Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Chris Coons of New Hampshire, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

“I thank the gentlemen for his fortitude, his strength and the crystalline brilliance with which he has shown the American people the huge dangers that face them with this Trump-DOGE-Musk administration,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at the end of his second round of questioning on Tuesday morning, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk oversees.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes as he advocated unsuccessfully for defunding Obamacare in 2013 — more than eight hours longer than Kentucky Republican Rand Paul did when he filibustered John Brennan’s CIA nomination months earlier.

Booker’s speech, measured at a few minutes over 25 hours, eclipsed Thurmond’s stand against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 that lasted 24 hours, 18 minutes, according to the Senate Historical Office. In this century, it also surpassed Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech against Obamacare in 2013, which lasted 21 hours, 19 minutes.

Media reported at the time that Thurmond sustained himself with “diced pumpernickel and bits of cooked hamburger” and sips of orange juice. If he needed to relieve himself in the Senate floor, his aides placed a bucket in the cloakroom.

The New Jersey Democrat, John Booker, addressed the 71-day crisis of the moment in Washington, D.C., April 22

They must meet a few requirements. The senator needs to remain standing, speak more or less continuously, and so on for one, according to theCRS.

The Senate uses long speeches to delay legislation in a way that’s been a tradition for a long time. Booker does not want to block a bill or nominee in his speech.

Booker’s speech took aim at President Trump, White House senior adviser Elon Musk and policies he says show a “complete disregard for the rule of law, the Constitution, and the needs of the American people.”

“In just 71 days, the president has inflicted harm after harm on Americans’ safety, financial stability, the foundations of our democracy, and any sense of common decency,” Booker said in his introductory remarks. “These are not normal times in our nation. They should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.

It covered a wide range of topics including healthcare, Social Security, immigration, the economy, public education, free speech and foreign policy. The letters Booker said he received from affected communities as well as public comments from world leaders were included.

“I’ve been hearing from people all over my state and indeed all over the nation calling upon folks in Congress to do more, to do things that recognize the urgency, the crisis of the moment,” Booker said in a video posted to social media beforehand. John Lewis said “Good trouble,” and that includes me, because I believe we all have a responsibility to do something different.

The New Jersey Democrat addressed the crowd at 7 pm and vowed to speak for as long as he can. He was still standing with glasses on and papers in his hand as of Tuesday morning.

Cory Booker Breaks Strom Thurmond’s Record: When he Met Bill Thurmond, And Them Irene, and I Done His Defamation

“To hate him is wrong. And maybe my ego got too caught up — that if I stood here, maybe, maybe, just maybe I could break this record,” he said of Thurmond.

“The man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand. I’m not here, though, because of his speech,” Booker said. I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.”

Booker then relayed a story Lewis told him when the two were in Georgia, about meeting a man who, years ago, had beaten him up when Lewis was an activist protesting segregation and racial discrimination.

Source: See the moment Sen. Cory Booker broke Strom Thurmond’s record

John Lewis and Strom Thurmond: Two Distant Activists, One Good Christian, One Bad, One Evil, and Two Longest Speakers by a Senator

“And a good Christian man, man of faith, simply said, ‘Every one of us needs mercy. Every one of us needs redemption. I forgave him. I hugged him, we wept and I looked at the boy. This nation needs you too.’ “

Booker said that he found it strange that he had the record. “And as a guy who grew up with legends of the Civil Rights Movement myself — my parents and their friends — it just seemed wrong to me, always seemed wrong.”

Booker talked about two figures who were on opposite sides of the Civil Rights Era, one being John Lewis and the other Strom Thurmond, who urged people to cause trouble by stirring up good trouble.

During his remarks, the New Jersey Democrat read aloud from messages sent by Americans, stressing the pain they expressed over economic challenges — and their fears that Medicaid and other key programs will face debilitating budget cuts.

The previous record for longest speech by a senator was set Tuesday night by Booker who spoke for more than 25 hours.

Booker said that he wanted to go past this and then deal with some of the biological urgencies he was feeling.