United States Senate

====Debate====
Debate, like most other matters governing the internal functioning of the Senate, is governed by internal rules adopted by the Senate. During a debate, senators may only speak if called upon by the presiding officer, but the presiding officer is required to recognize the first senator who rises to speak. Thus, the presiding officer has little control over the course of the debate. Customarily, the majority leader and minority leader are accorded priority during debates even if another senator rises first. All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, who is addressed as "Mr. President" or "Madam President", and not to another member; other Members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, senators do not refer to each other by name, but by state or position, using forms such as "the senior senator from Virginia", "the gentleman from California", or "my distinguished friend the chairman of the Judiciary Committee". Senators address the Senate standing next to their desks.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=juX5w6oLgcwC&q=%22address+the+chair Martin B. Gold, ''Senate Procedure and Practice'', p.39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323114641/https://books.google.com/books?id=juX5w6oLgcwC&dq=%22senators+address+each+other%22&q=%22address+the+chair#v=snippet&q=%22address%20the%20chair&f=false |date=March 23, 2019}}: ''Every member, when he speaks, shall address the chair, standing in his place, and when he has finished, shall sit down.''</ref>

Apart from rules governing civility, there are few restrictions on the content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches pertain to the matter before the Senate.

The [[Standing Rules of the United States Senate|rules of the Senate]] provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day. A legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends with adjournment; hence, it does not necessarily coincide with the [[calendar day]]. The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus, in most cases, senators may speak for as long as they please. Often, the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits. In other cases (for example, for the budget process), limits are imposed by statute. However, the right to unlimited debate is generally preserved.

Within the United States, the Senate is sometimes referred to as "world's greatest deliberative body".<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July 5, 1993 |title=The World's Greatest Deliberative Body |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978823,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811051312/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978823,00.html |archive-date=August 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=World's greatest deliberative body watch |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/worlds_greatest_deliberative_b.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204235408/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/11/worlds_greatest_deliberative_b.html |archive-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Senate reform: Lazing on a Senate afternoon |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/senate_reform |url-status=live |access-date=October 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014090430/http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/senate_reform |archive-date=October 14, 2010}}</ref>