take the floor
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtake the floortake the floorTALK/MAKE A SPEECHto begin speaking at an important public meeting The chairman then took the floor. → floorExamples from the Corpustake the floor• All delegates have a voice at the Conference and can take the floor on any issue raised.• An additional reduction to the intervention rate has taken the floor rate to 4. 45 percent.• Norman, who had sacked the rest of the team, took the floor.