By Alex Solari, Opinions and Editorials Editor
On Wednesday, February 7, Nancy Pelosi stood up to make an 8-hour long speech about the DACA Dreamers and the necessity to protect them. For the majority of her incredibly long speech, she spoke about particular Dreamers and their stories of success in the United States. This was in protest of the bipartisan deal that funded the government while giving no protection to the DACA Dreamers.
You might ask yourself, who let this woman speak for that long? Is that even allowed? Well, apparently, there is something called the “magic minute” that allows the House Speaker, the Minority Leader, and the Majority Leader to speak for longer than one minute on the issue at hand. And Nancy Pelosi, being the Minority Leader, definitely took advantage of this.
With stilettos on at 77 years old, this woman did not sit once, or even stop to go to the bathroom. She broke House history, according to the House historian, beating the last modern record by three hours. Whether you agree with her political stances or not, you’ve got to admit that her dedication is unprecedented. I want to see more leaders with the attitude Pelosi has. Our government leaders just don’t seem this passionate anymore. Even if I were against the things Pelosi was saying, I couldn’t help but have respect for her determination.
But surprisingly, some Democrats are against her. According to Vice, Pelosi told Adrian Reyna, who works with United We Dream, that Dreamers would be able to stay and work in the U.S. by the end of the year, just as it was in the Obama-era.
Erika Andiola, an undocumented immigrant activist and Bernie Sanders’ former press secretary also showed her skepticism, and said, “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s speech on DACA demonstrated compassion for undocumented youth, but at this point compassion is simply not enough. Dreamers don’t need compassion from Democrats; they need action,” according to Vice.
Democrats are sick of the empty promises and the lack of action from people like Pelosi, which is understandable. I can imagine how frustrating it is for Reyna and Andiola who work for the cause 24/7, and is given these promises and no action time and time again.
But I think those who are mad at people like Pelosi are misplacing their anger. Pelosi is one person, who is part of a group that is majority Republican. When she made the promise of helping the Dreamers, she probably truly believed she could make that happen. Sure, she shouldn’t have promised something that she didn’t know could happen, but she was optimistic. And, her speech probably focused more on compassion to convince Republicans to vote against the bipartisan deal she is so adamantly against. Clearly the issue isn’t that the woman doesn’t care. She broke a record with how long her speech was about the issue.
People should be focused on those who are against them, not on those who are on their side that they don’t think are working hard enough. Trump clearly is stopping things that the left want from happening, and the last thing that liberals need is to be divided. Just as Andiola says, action needs to happen, but with a House of Representatives that is majority Republican, that action cannot happen without changing Republicans’ minds. I commend Pelosi for her efforts, even if some believe that it is ineffective.