Sen. Rand Paul Filibuster
March 7, 2013
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) began a filibuster on the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director. This filibuster began at 11:47 AM on Wednesday, March 6 and has been holding the floor ever since. During the live filibuster it can be viewed here on C-SPAN2. The timeline and the earlier speeches by Paul and others can be seen here in C-SPAN Video Library. Experience this rare live Senate filibuster on C-SPAN2 and watch individual speeches in the C-SPAN Video Library.
Members Speaking in 113th Congress
February 8, 2013
The 113th Congress has been in session for 15 days, although some of these are proforma days when nothing happens and no one speaks. Using the C-SPAN Video Library we can see which members have been active in the House during the first month. One thing we learn is that there are 72 freshmen representatives. Thirty-two of these freshmen have not spoken yet and twenty-one have spoken once. The table below shows the distribution of freshmen members speaking by party. There is not much difference in those who have spoken by party, but twice as many Democratic freshmen have not spoken on the floor compared to Republican freshmen. A number of freshmen participated in the reading of the Constitution on the floor.
| Days | Dem | Rep | Total |
| 0 | 22 | 10 | 32 |
| 1 | 10 | 11 | 21 |
| 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 |
| 3+ | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Total | 40 | 32 | 72 |
If we look at all the other members we see the pattern shown in the table below.
| Days | Dem | Rep | Total |
| 0 | 76 | 98 | 174 |
| 1 | 38 | 54 | 92 |
| 2 | 26 | 33 | 59 |
| 3+ | 20 | 17 | 37 |
| Total | 160 | 202 | 362 |
There is no difference in the percentage of the freshmen who have not spoken and the nonfreshmen who have not spoken.
Two members stand out as speaking the most. One is a freshman, Rep. Messer (R-IN). He is president of the freshman class and has spoken six times. The other is a nonfreshman and a regular speaker, Rep. Jackson Lee (D-TX), who has also spoken six times. We will continue to keep an eye on who speaks and who doesn’t in the 113th Congress.
None of the fifteen freshmen senators have spoken yet on the Senfloor.
State of the Union Address
February 6, 2013
President Obama will deliver the State of the Union on February 12. The House and Senate assemble in the House Chamber for a Joint Session of Congress to hear the president. Tune to C-SPAN to watch the Senators parade from the Senate chamber to the House chamber, watch the cabinet enter, led by the new Secretary of State and senior cabinet officer, John Kerry, and see the First Lady enter in the gallery. You can see what members come early to claim the coveted aisle seats in this and past years. Then watch and listen as the president gives his speech.
You can view past State of the Union addresses in the C-SPAN Video Library at this link. You can clip and share portions of this and past speeches. Journalist Ryan Beckwith used the Video Library to compile references to immigration in past speeches. You can see his work here. Using the clipping and sharing tools of the C-SPAN Video Library you can do what he did and create your own clips to illustrate the point you want to make. The C-SPAN Video Library makes this possible.
Inaugural Parade Popular with Clippers
January 25, 2013
C-SPAN carried the entire inaugural parade on January 21. It ran for two hours and has had close to 9,000 views. Lots of people discovered the C-SPAN clipping tool to share their local band’s appearance with friends and relatives. There were 363 clips made of the parade. These clips have been viewed 16,000 times.
All these clips can be found on the clips tab of the parade in the Video Library. There is a clip timeline that even allows you to see where in the entire parade the clip was made.
Proud family members posted descriptions such as “Here’s my brother marching with his men!! Am so proud of him =] He’s in the 3rd row 4th from the left (hard to see but had to pause it several times to get a glimpse)” for this clip
The most popular clip was this clip of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association which has been viewed eight thousand times.
The 2013 presidential inaugural parade was a celebration of hometown pride that was captured in the C-SPAN Video Library and shared through its clipping tool.
Remember that all C-SPAN Videos can be clipped and shared. Just click on the clip button on the C-SPAN Video Library player, mark begin and end times, give it a title and description and save. Create your own account in the Video Library and all your clips are saved for future sharing. Log in to “MyC-SPAN” to find how you can follow people, programs, and organizations and be notified when selected programs air. It is all there and free in the C-SPAN Video Library.
Benghazi Consulate Attack Events
January 23, 2013
This week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies on the Benghazi consulate attack. There have been many previous hearings, news conferences and comments on the September 11, 2012 attack. These have all been captured in the C-SPAN Video Library and can be viewed and reviewed at this link. Use the Video Library as your source for following current public affairs.
