Senator Cory Booker’s 25-Hour Marathon Speech Is One For Record Books

Sixty-eight years after Storm Thurmond broke the record for the longest Senate speech to delay access to voting for Black Americans, Cory Booker, the Black Senator from New Jersey, broke Thurmond's record.

It’s pretty poetic. Sixty-eight years after South Carolina Senator Storm Thurmond broke the record for the longest Senate speech to delay access to voting for Black Americans, Cory Booker, the Black Senator from New Jersey, broke Thurmond’s record Tuesday night.

For weeks, frustrated Democratic voters have asked party leaders in Washington, D.C., to stand up against President Donald Trump and his administration’s sweeping actions. Booker responded by taking to the Senate floor Monday evening.

Booker’s marathon speech began at 7 p.m. Eastern on Monday. The senator, 55, said he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” Displaying remarkable stamina, Booker lasted until Tuesday night. He limped off the Senate floor after 25 hours and 5 minutes. The previous record from segregationist Thurmond was 24 hours and 18 minutes.

“I’m here despite his speech,” said Booker, speaking openly on the Senate floor of his roots as the descendant of both slaves and slave-owners, according to the Associated Press. “I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people are more powerful.”

Booker urged everyone, including Democrats, to do better.

“These are not normal times in our nation…and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate,” he said. “The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Booker came to the Senate floor with more than 1,164 pages of prepared material, his staffers confirmed to BLACK ENTERPRISE. Throughout the day Tuesday, Booker received help from his Democratic colleagues, who gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions.

As the AP points out, Booker yielded for questions but did not give up the floor. Booker remained standing to comply with Senate rules. At times, he had to shift his feet and lean on the podium but remained steadfast in listing the impacts of Trump’s early executive orders. He spoke against proposed cuts looming to social safety nets such as social security and Medicare.

Booker also read letters from his constituents. He shared more than 200 stories from New Jerseyans and Americans. Tens of thousands of Americans called the senator’s main office, leaving voicemails of encouragement.

Booker’s record speech was not a filibuster — a speech that halts the advance of a specific piece of legislation. Instead, his time on the Senate floor was a broader critique of Trump and his administration’s agenda and a tactic to hold up the Senate’s business. Democrats do not have a majority in the Senate or the House of Representatives, so they are turning to procedural maneuvers to thwart Republicans.