Pelosi sets House record with eight-hour speech

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., set a record with an eight-hour speech in Congress Wednesday calling for a legislative solution to protect immigrants whose parents brought them to the United States illegally. Pelosi, 77, spent much of the marathon speech reading letters from immigrants whose protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is set to expire next month. The future of DACA and other immigration reforms has become a bargaining chip in the budget battle in Congress. Last month, the government shut down for a weekend after budget and immigration talks stalled. Democrats in the Senate agreed to a funding compromise Wednesday after Republicans promised a separate debate on immigration to follow. Pelosi’s speech, in part, aimed to force a similar guarantee from House GOP leadership. AshLee Strong, spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Ryan “has already repeatedly stated we intend to do a DACA and immigration reform bill—one that the president supports.” Pelosi also likely sought to appease progressives in her own party who say she hasn’t done enough to push a DACA fix. But some Democrats were not pleased with Pelosi’s theatrics. “There’s all kinds of ways, I assure you, that leadership exercises its influence—the least of which is a floor speech,” said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., who criticized Pelosi’s role in conducting budget negotiations without DACA provisions. The Office of the House Historian said Pelosi’s speech was the longest continuous one on record for the chamber.