Maxine Waters: Nancy Pelosi's 'leadership minute' filibuster 'most profound' in history of Congress

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., praised House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Wednesday after Pelosi concluded her marathon eight-hour-plus filibuster on the floor of the House of Representatives to demand a vote on an immigration bill addressing so-called "Dreamers."

"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, referring to the Mortgage Choice Act, which was to be considered in the House when Pelosi used her "leadership minute" at the start of the chamber's business as a springboard for her filibuster.

While not actually a filibuster, which is an action lawmakers take in the Senate, Pelosi, as a party leader, reserves the right to talk at length on the floor.

Waters spoke immediately after Pelosi ended her marathon speech in the early evening.

After speaking on the floor in the morning about the Mortgage Choice Act, Waters — the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee — had to wait the entire duration of Pelosi's speech for the debate on the legislation to end.

"That one minute that ended up eight hours where Leader Pelosi talked about the plight of DACA and the Dreamers," Waters continued. "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."

Pelosi was protesting Republican plans to pass a government spending bill without a guarantee that there would be a vote on a bill that would reinstate something similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children.

The Obama-era initiative is set to expire on March 5.

Pelosi's speech was the longest on the House floor in at least 100 years, according to the House of Representatives Historian’s Office.