Cnn
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The speech of the marathon of the senator of the New Jersey Cory Booker on the Senate floor extends overnight while he protests on the actions taken by the administration of President Donald Trump, saying that he continues “as long as I am physically capable”.
The Democratic Senator spoke for hours, starting his remarks at 7:00 p.m. on Monday evening, and undertakes this effort at a time when the Democratic leaders of Washington are under pressure from their base to do more to resist Trump. Booker is a member of the Senate Democratic Leadership team.
From Midnight and, Booker was still talking about and had tackled a number of subjects.
“I get up with the intention of disturbing the normal affairs of the American Senate as long as I am physically capable,” said Booker at the start of his remarks. “I get up this evening because I sincerely believe that our country is in crisis.”
“In just 71 days, the President of the United States inflicted so much difficulty in the safety of the Americans; financial stability; The basic foundations of our democracy, ”said Booker. “These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the American Senate. ”
Speech is not an obstacle because Booker does not block legislation or appointment. The speech of the Democratic senator will keep the soil of the open Senate – and the working staff working as well as the members of the police of the American Capitol detailed in the House – as long as he continues to speak, but the legislators had finished on Monday before starting his remarks.
In his remarks, Booker warned against the potential reductions of Medicaid by the Republicans of the Congress and the damage which would cause its voters and its Americans across the country.
The Republicans insisted that they did not cut Medicaid, but said that they would go after waste, fraud and abuses and proposed profound expense reductions – without exactly specifying the programs that the cuts could come – within the framework of their legislative program.
At one point, Booker invoked the late GOP Senator John McCain, reflecting on the pivot voting of McCain’s health care in 2017 and by establishing parallels with the current moment.
“It is exasperating in this country to create an increasingly large health care crisis and for us not to resolve it but to fight between the two senses between trying to make progressive changes or to tear everything up without any plan to improve it, leaving more Americans suffering,” said Booker.
By raising the voice loudly and speaking with emotion, Booker said: “The McCain senator, I know that you do not sanction this, I know you are crying, I saw how angry you can make yourself, John McCain. Correct it, threatening to put millions of Americans in financial crisis and health care crisis.
While he spoke, Booker asked questions at various times of the Senate Democratic colleagues and was able to take brief breaks while he asked these questions. According to the Senate procedure, when Booker gave in for a question, he was able to stop speaking without losing the floor.
The head of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, was the first to ask his colleague from New Jersey a question, and he congratulated Booker for his “strength and conviction”.
“You take the ground this evening to evoke all these inequalities that will injure people, who will harm the middle class so much, which will do so much harm to the poor, who will harm America, harm our tax conditions, as you document it,” said Schumer. “Give us just a little suspicion of strength-give us a little feeling for the strength and conviction that pushes you to make this unusual ground for a long time to let people know how bad these things.”
Booker then gave in to the Democrat Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester for other questions, noting that before starting to speak, the senator of Delaware prayed with him in the Senate.
“My sister came and prayed with me so that I could endure long, because she knew what we were trying to do, which was to try to create with who we serve, with good problems of John Lewis in this institution, not to do normal things,” he said, adding that Rochester Franc had “asked God to give me words of love today.”
In recent years, the Chamber has seen a certain number of marathon speeches pronounced by the senators, in particular: Jeff Merkley against Neil Gorsuch in 2017; Chris Murphy on the control of firearms in 2016; Rand Paul on the national security agency supervision programs in 2015; and Ted Cruz against the 2013 law on affordable care.
The late Strom Thurmond holds the record for the longest speech when he spoke on the ground for 24 hours and 18 minutes to oppose the civil rights law of 1957.
This story and the title have been updated with additional information.
