WASHINGTON: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi staged a record-breaking, eight-hour speech Wednesday in hopes of pressuring Republicans to allow a vote on protecting 鈥淒reamer鈥� immigrants 鈥� and to demonstrate to increasingly angry progressives and Democratic activists that she has done all she could.
Wearing four-inch heels and forgoing any breaks, Pelosi, 77, spent much of the rare talkathon reading personal letters from the young immigrants whose temporary protection from deportation is set to expire next month. The California Democrat quoted from the Bible and Pope Francis, as Democrats took turns sitting behind her in support. The Office of the House Historian said it was the longest continuous speech in the chamber on record.
鈥淵ou see, these people are being deported,鈥� Pelosi said around hour six. 鈥淲e can do something today to at least make whole the children.鈥�
Her remarks seemed partly aimed at the liberal wing of Pelosi鈥檚 own party, who seethed as Senate Democrats cut a budget deal with Republicans that could quickly steal the momentum behind the effort to resolve the Dreamers鈥� plight.
The wide-ranging budget accord says nothing about renewing the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, called DACA, which temporarily shields Dreamers 鈥� hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country as children and living here illegally 鈥� from deportation. President Donald Trump has moved to annul DACA.
Pelosi said she鈥檇 oppose the budget deal unless GOP leaders agreed to hold a House vote on helping the Dreamers. But top Democrats said they weren鈥檛 corralling rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose the budget pact, leading some of the party鈥檚 immigration advocates to question the forcefulness of her opposition.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to take everything she says at face value,鈥� said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois 鈥淎nd then hopefully tomorrow she will validate that trust by stopping us from voting for it. If she doesn鈥檛, then it was a nice speech.鈥�
Pelosi鈥檚 performance had no immediate impact on Republican leaders, who have not scheduled a vote on the issue. AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said Ryan 鈥渉as already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill 鈥� one that the president supports.鈥�
While Pelosi spoke, immigration activists rallied in Washington and threatened retribution against the congressional Democrats who abandoned the strategy of demanding that a budget accord be paired with an immigration deal. The fresh threats exposed deepening divisions within a Democratic Party struggling to address a liberal priority in Republican-controlled Washington.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a loyal Democrat,鈥� Linda Sarsour, a political activist who co-chaired the 2017 Women鈥檚 March, declared during a fiery rally near Capitol Hill. 鈥淲e will be joining primaries this year and we will primary Democrats who did not have the spine or the courage to stand up for our undocumented family.鈥�
The activists who filled a Washington church Wednesday, like liberal leaders nationwide, called out Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for failing to attach immigration legislation to a must-pass bill like the budget deal.
鈥淲hat are they thinking? They鈥檙e giving up their leverage,鈥� said a frustrated Angel Padilla, policy director for the liberal group Indivisible.
Pelosi started speaking around 10 a.m. and yielded the floor at 6:11 p.m. By the end, there was a quiver in her voice, a stumble over some words and a case of sniffles.
At one point she interrupted herself to read a note from the House historian alerting her that she had delivered the chamber鈥檚 longest continuous speech, besting Rep. Champ Clark鈥檚 five-hour, 15-minute stem-winder about tariff reform in 1909. In the Senate, where unthinkably long orations are more common, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond spoke against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for a record 24 hours and 18 minutes.
When Pelosi finished, around 50 Democrats responded with a standing ovation, high-fives, hugs and kisses. The Republican side of the chamber was virtually empty.
鈥淲e achieved the recognition of what the Dreamers mean to America,鈥� she told reporters afterward. 鈥淭hey are a reflection of all the immigrants that have come before.鈥�
The federal government will shutter non-essential operations Thursday at midnight unless Congress passes a spending plan.