Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) praised House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) filibuster-style speech on the House floor on Wednesday to force votes on immigration reform, calling it the "most profound one minute" in the history of Congress.
"We've had the opportunity to yield time to Leader Pelosi, and while she certainly came in to oppose this bill that we have before us, having yielded one minute to the leader is the most profound one minute probably in the history of this institution," Waters said, according to the Washington Examiner.
Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, was set to discuss the Mortgage Choice Act on Wednesday when Pelosi used her right as minority leader to speak for as long as she wants.
Pelosi set the record for the longest continuous speech in House history, according to the House Historian's Office, as she attempted to pressure House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) to hold votes on immigration legislation. The minority leader told personal stories about Dreamers, illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, for eight hours, protesting the passage of a spending bill that does not include a solution to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides legal protections to Dreamers and expires on March 5.
"That one minute that ended up eight hours where Leader Pelosi talked about the plight of DACA and the Dreamers," Waters added. "And I'm very proud in that yielding that one minute we had the opportunity to listen to Leader Pelosi deal with an issue and demand that we have an opportunity to have a real debate and a real discussion in the People's House."