On this day - 12 June

On June 12th 1935, US Senator Huey Long spoke for fifteen and a half hours in one speech in an attempt to prevent the National Recovery Act from being passed. Despite talking at length and and including every section of the constitution, the act he was against still passed. The National Recovery Act allowed the US President to regulate employee wages and product prices in an effort to help the economy recover.

The tactic Huey Long undertook is known as a filibuster. There are very few restrictions within the US Senate and therefore any senator is entitled to speak for as long as they wish so long as no other senator is talking. As the voting on a topic only occurs when the debate is finished, by speaking at length a senator can cause a lengthy delay to when a vote takes place. The longest filibuster on record currently belongs to Strom Thurmond who spoke for 24 hours and eighteen minutes in 1957.