At 10:04 a.m. on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made the “magic minute” – a special privilege that allows House Speaker Paul Ryan as well as other top leaders to speak on the floor for as long as they wish – a more than eight-hour tribute to the DREAMers living in the United States.
Since there are no filibusters in the House of Representatives, Pelosi used the magic minute to pressure her colleagues to reach an agreement for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Last year, President Donald Trump rescinded DACA – a program that has allowed young immigrants to work and attend school, without fear of deportation – and gave Congress until March 5 to find a solution for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries. Though a federal judge recently blocked the Trump Administration from ending the program, the future of this community of young immigrants remains uncertain.
With Congress now missing two major opportunities to pass legislation for Dreamers, Pelosi held the floor for eight hours and seven minutes, weaving the stories of Dreamers throughout the day. Along the way, she set the record for the longest floor speech in House history, dethroning House Speaker Champ Clark, who gave five hour and 15-minute speech in 1909.
Below, listen to Pelosi reading the stories of seven Dreamers, and urging Congress to act.