A new record was set in the United States Congress by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) for delivering the longest ever speech given in the United States Senate. Starting at 7 p.m. EST on March 31 and concluding at 8:05 p.m. EST on April 1, the speech lasted 25 hours and 5 minutes.
The US Senate does not limit a speech’s length in a debate unless limits were set before the speech begins by the chamber. Because no time limit was set, Booker was allowed to speak indefinitely as long as he could “remain standing” and “speak more or less continuously.”
While many expected Booker to have made sure he properly hydrated and ate enough food before his speech, Booker states he did not eat any food days before the speech was given and made sure to stop drinking water the day before the speech.
This would allow him to be able to stand up and continue speaking without feeling the need to use the bathroom and have to end his speech. Throughout the whole speech, he only drank two glasses of water.
“I definitely started cramping up from lack of water,” Booker said to USA Today.
Booker spent his entire speech protesting the new policies of the Trump administration and stated that his purpose was to shed light on how these policies will negatively affect our nation. He also stated that he wished to delay any legislative business that would have occurred in the Senate on Tuesday.
This historic speech was played on all types of social media and news broadcasting networks.
