Among the 13 Senators sworn in last January, Sen. Marco Rubio is the only one who has yet to speak on the floor.
“It is not to address the nation or constituents but to address colleagues,” Ritchie said. “It’s to establish who they are, what they’re interested in and how seriously they should be taken.”
Senators use their maiden speech as an opportunity to set the tone for their term in office. Speeches are typically noncontroversial, and they address the issues Senators believe to be most important and pay homage to the lawmaker’s predecessor and state.
But the decision of when to deliver a maiden speech was never governed by concrete rules, only by custom.
“It used to be a couple years, then a couple months, then a couple weeks, and now it seems like it’s a couple days,” Ritchie said.
In recent years, the practice of waiting to deliver a maiden speech has slowly withered away.
Then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) gave her maiden speech on the topic of health care on Feb. 13, 2001, a little more than a month after she was sworn in. Then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) gave a more impromptu speech on counting Ohio’s electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2005, just two days after he was sworn in.
Heye said there’s no reason for Rubio to give a speech until he’s ready.
“He’s not rushed,” Heye said. “He’s really learning how the Senate operates before doing so.”
The delay has certainly heightened expectations for the speech.
“Of course, everybody’s always interested in the first time that a new Member sits up to speak and what they’re going to speak about,” Ritchie said. “Not everybody is successful in their maiden speech, but it helps to take your measure and to see what issues are particularly important to you.”
Freshmen Use Rite of Passage to Speak Their Minds
The maiden speech is a rite of passage in the halls of the Senate: It’s the first time a freshman Member speaks on the Senate floor.
Although the tradition has changed, the Senate still takes it very seriously. In the past, Members have discussed domestic and foreign policy, retold family stories and given stemwinders on pet issues.
Below are excerpts of maiden speeches from 12 freshman Senators sworn in earlier this year. (Florida Republican Marco Rubio and Nevada Republican Dean Heller have not yet given maiden speeches.)
“Americans deserve a country where the people are bigger than the government, and this health care bill opens the door to a future where the government is bigger than the people.”
A man from Kentucky attends a Tea Party Patriots rally on the West Front of the Capitol to protest the IRS' targeting of conservative political groups.
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