He said, ‘I wish I had brown skin and brown eyes like Antonio.’ So handsome, so attractive. “People would text me and say, I would have gone to the bathroom by now and I texted them back, don’t jinx her, don’t jinx her”.
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“This budget deal shows just how broken the budget process is, that Congress thinks the only way to agree to a budget is to put hundreds of billions of dollars on the nation’s credit card”, said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington-based group.
When asked how she managed to stay on her feet for over eight hours, Pelosi told reporters she was not planning to stay on the floor that long.
The House Democratic leader started speaking at around 10am and completed her speech at 6.11pm to a standing ovation from around 50 Democrats left in the chamber. Pelosi believes that a budget deal must include legislation for the program in order for Democrats to vote yes.
Ms Pelosi was advocating on behalf of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, known as “Dreamers”.
“We have so many testimonies, real testimony in the words of the dreamers, as I said, the most eloquent of all”, Pelosi said.
Maryland Rep. John Delaney told Business Insider there was no specific whipping against the plan that does not guarantee any action for DACA recipients, but that there would be “a lot of discussion” when House Democrats gathered later in the evening.
At one point she interrupted herself to read a note from the House historian alerting her that she had delivered the chamber’s longest continuous speech, besting Rep. Champ Clark’s five-hour, 15-minute stem-winder about tariff reform in 1909.
House Speaker Ryan is so far unwilling to offer open debate on any immigration legislation.
Even though they feel betrayed by Democrats who did not use their leverage on government funding to get Dreamer protections and wary of Republicans who voice support but don’t act, undocumented youth will keep pushing lawmakers.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Pelosi “should not hold our military hostage over a separate issue”.
By taking a stand, it seems, Pelosi had fallen into the Republican trap, cementing her status as their electoral foil.
Instead, Democrats’ ineffectiveness has angered those same activists and the voters critical in a midterm election year with control of the House at stake.
House Democrats changed plans for their scheduled retreat in Cambridge, Md. this week to stay in D.C. and be on hand for the debate.
On social media, many users pointed out that Ms Pelosi had not only spoken for many hours, but had done so while consuming only a little water – and wearing 10cm-high heels.
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“Without a commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support”, she said. So is Congress. Yet, for some reason, only Pelosi gets blamed for an unpopularity that really stems from disgust with Congress and partisan polarization.
