Sen. Rand Paul told reporters after his filibuster that his legs hurt, his feet hurt, and and he needed to use the men's room. But the Bowling Green Republican insisted the effort was worth it to bring an important issue to the American people.
Paul used his filibuster to block Senate confirmation of President Obama's CIA nominee John Brennan.
Paul is a vocal critic of Obama's unmanned drone policy. He demanded the president or Attorney General Eric Holder issue a statement assuring the unmanned aircraft would not be used in the United States to kill terrorism suspects who are U.S. citizens. The Obama administration has said the federal government has not conducted such operations inside U. S. borders and has no intention of doing so.
Close to 1 a.m. Thursday, after nearly 13 hours of talk, Paul--along with a small group of mostly GOP lawmakers who helped him during the talk-a-thon--announced he was ending the filibuster.
“I thank you very much for the forbearance and I yield the floor,” he said, to loud applause.