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The Democratic Representative for the State of California, Nancy Pelosi during her speech in the Chamber. (Video courtesy of the Washington Post)
The Democratic Representative for the State of California, Nancy Pelosi during her speech in the Chamber. (Video courtesy of the Washington Post)

"The most profound one minute in the history of this institution"

In an 8-hour speech the leader of the Democratic minority in the House, Nancy Pelosi, left with an open mouth all those who questioned the temperance of the…

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At 77 years old, impeccably dressed and on 4-inches heels, Nancy Pelosi, representative of the 12th district of California and current Democratic Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, stood for 8 hours, in what was perceived as the largest show of determination and temperance on the part of any member of the party in the face of the critical situation of the young immigrants who arrived in childhood (commonly called Dreamers).

During her traditional right to speak on the floor of the legislative body, Pelosi extended her minute to eight hours in which she did what every voter and citizen wants their representatives to do: she brought them to the room with her.

Among folios and folios of paper, Pelosi told the story of Luke, who was brought to the United States by his parents at age 11 from South Korea, Lisia Dalla, Alejandro Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, Nahomi Florentino, Pablo Da Silva, Diego García Ramírez, Andrea Ramos Fernández, and dozens of other immigrants whose lives don’t know any other nation than this country, but who are now threatened by the policies of the Trump Administration and by the obstructionism of an intransigent president.

What many have described as a filibuster, Pelosi has defended as "an opportunity to oppose this law and speak of social justice in the United States."

"We feel like second-class members here in Congress when it’s not in our realm to discuss something that is being discussed throughout the country, in the Senate, in The White House," the representative criticized. "But here we can have the opportunity to officially discuss the legislation that is on the floor."

For Sarah D. Wire, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, this is a unique phenomenon in the country's politics. "Pelosi had never done something like this before. In fact, no one really has. The House doesn’t have a filibuster the way the Senate does," she wrote on Twitter. "Leaders have used their extended ‘one-minute' privilege to speak for maybe 20 or 30 minutes before, but Pelosi has spoken for nearly 3 hours." 3 hours that turned into 8, and that filled the Chamber with the real protagonists of this story.

The Representative quoted passages from the Bible, read comments from the Dreamers in which they asked their representatives to do something about it and entered into a direct conversation with them, returning to the central goal of democracy: to represent those who elected you.

Likewise, Pelosi brought to light a reality that few knew: among the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers there are not only young Hispanic Americans, but also Asians. "Did you know this?" She asked her colleagues.

It is true that this "political performance" can be perceived as a strategy of deviation in the face of the immense responsibility that weighs on the Democrats to reach an agreement to avoid another government shutdown; It is also true that this debate inaugurates a fundamental year for politics in the Trump Era, considering the mid-term elections that will take place during the month of November, but if something is irrefutable from Pelosi's performance, it is that it’s the first time that a Democrat has grasp the evil by the root in the fight for social justice and equality in such a dark moment for the United States.

Pelosi demonstrated this by closing her speech saying: "our basic request is: honor the House of Representatives. Give us the opportunity to vote on the floor. Let's thank and acknowledge the Dreamers for their courage, their optimism, and their hope. They are the inspiration to make America more American."

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