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Heard on the Hill: Motormouth Hall of Fame

Next Monday marks C-SPAN2’s 25th anniversary of gavel-to-gavel Senate coverage. And true to their wild-and-crazy reputations, the C-SPAN folks are starting the party early by releasing their list of the 10 most prolific Senate orators of the past 18 years.

Impressively, six of the top 10 Senate talkers are still serving. Taking top honors in the current Congress is Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who talked his way into a third-place finish. Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) won the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place slots for the Senate’s chattiest Cathys.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) rounded out the group with respectable eighth- and 10th-place finishes.

The No. 1 Senate speaker of the last 18 years is former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.).

Former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and late Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) also placed among the top 10.

According to C-SPAN’s list, Iowa must be the chattiest state in the Union. The Hawkeye state ranked with two Senators in the top 10.

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