UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: CNN viewer Reddy Yakkanti from Mountain View, California, asks: what is the meaning of filibuster used in the U.S. Congress?</s>JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The filibuster is a Senate procedure that allows a single senator to literally talk a bill to death. In the Senate, unlike in the House of Representatives, where time is strictly limited, an individual senator can speak for as long as he or she wants. So if a senator wants to block a bill, they do a filibuster, simply talking and talking and talking, preventing the bill from actually coming up for a vote. Perhaps, the most famous filibuster in history was a fictional one. In the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Mr. Smith, played by Jimmy Stewart, gets up as the lone idealistic voice of a single senator blocking the will of a corrupt majority and stopping a bill from coming up for a vote by talking and talking. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON") JIMMY STEWART, ACTOR: No, sir, I will not yield!</s>KARL: In terms of actual filibusters, the longest filibuster in history was conducted by Strom Thurmond back in 1957. He filibustered the Civil Rights Act, and actually spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes. Filibusters can be stopped, however. There is a procedure in the Senate known as cloture, and that means that if 60 senators vote to cut off debate, then that lone senator standing and debating must stop speaking and the Senate can proceed to an actual vote.
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