1) The term “filibuster” has been in use since the mid-nineteenth century to describe the tactic of delaying legislative action in order to prevent the passage of a bill. The word comes from the Dutch freebooter, or pirate, and most likely developed from the idea that someone conducting a filibuster is trying to steal away the opportunity that proponents of a bill have to make it successful.

2) In the earlier history of the U.S. Congress, filibusters were used in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate, but they are now much more a part of the culture of the Senate than of the House. Because the House is a much larger body than is the Senate, the House now has rules which greatly limit the amount of time that each member may speak, which effectively serves to eliminate the filibuster as a mechanism for delaying legislation in the House.

3) In the Senate, the smaller of the two bodies, there are now rules that can constrain but not totally eliminate filibusters. The Senate adopted its first cloture rule in 1917, a rule which requires a vote of two-thirds of the Senate to limit debate to one hour on each side. The rule was changed in 1975 and now requires a vote of three-fifths of the members to invoke cloture in most situations.

4) The longest filibuster on record occurred in 1957, when Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina wanted to delay voting on civil rights legislation. The filibuster was conducted for 24 hours and 18 minutes on August 28 and 29, when Thurmond held the floor of the Senate by lecturing on the law and reading from court decisions and newspaper columns. It was his hope that this filibuster would rally opponents of civil rights legislation; however, two weeks after the filibuster, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed.