Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WATCH: Sen. Cruz Reads Dr. Seuss During Obamacare Filibuster

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, is now on the sixth hour of a filibuster that he hopes will slow debate on a measure that removes a provision in a House bill that funds the government but defunds Obamacare.

As our friend Frank James explains over at It's All Politics, the filibuster comes just six days before the federal government outlasts its spending authority.

"I intend to speak until I cannot stand," Cruz said on the Senate floor, during a speech that started at 2:42 p.m. ET.

A little after 8 p.m., the freshman senator said he wanted to read "bedtime stories" to his two daughters and he launched into Green Eggs And Ham.

Here's video:

As Frank noted, Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, said Cruz's speech is not really filibuster, "because the vote to end debate and bring up the House bill would go on as scheduled" on Wednesday.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.