[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 52 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE INTRODUCTION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 26, 2009

  Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise this afternoon to talk about the 
American Dream Act, a bill that I have introduced today with my long-
time partners in this endeavor, Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard 
and Lincoln Diaz-Balart. We are joined in our effort by a bipartisan 
group of dedicated original cosponsors. I believe that all of us have 
come to this effort for the same reason--to keep our country from 
squandering the promise of thousands of young people who have been 
raised here, worked hard in school, and would like to pursue higher 
education or serve their country in the military. These students face 
tremendous obstacles in reaching their potential because, through no 
fault of their own, they exist in a legal limbo with no way to adjust 
their immigration status.
  In America, we value every young person. We reward hard work and good 
moral character. We value the drive to continue one's education, and we 
don't penalize children for the misdeeds of their parents. But current 
federal law punishes many children for the decision that their parents 
made to bring them to this country. Now, when these young people finish 
high school, their choices are few: they can try to find work illegally 
in order to support themselves or they can hope to somehow continue 
their education while under a legal cloud. They consider themselves 
Americans because this country is the only home they've ever really 
known, but their lives are filled with uncertainty and their future is 
limited so long as they have no legal status.
  This is a travesty. It means that their communities--the communities 
that they have grown up in and call home--will never fully reap the 
benefits of their abilities. We have set up obstacles to their success 
at every turn, and our goal here today is to find a way to ensure that 
we don't waste their potential.
  My own interest in this issue was intensified when a family near my 
district wrote to me asking for help for a young undocumented student. 
This young woman was brought to the United States by her mother when 
she was a small child. She attended public schools in California, where 
she was an honors student in high school, received awards for her 
outstanding community service, and graduated with a near perfect grade 
point average. When it came time for her to go to college, she found 
that she was ineligible not just for federal financial aid, but for in-
state tuition as well. But this young woman was one of the rare 
undocumented students in this country fortunate enough to get help from 
a private source. She participated in a community mentoring program 
through which she met a couple who came to consider her a part of their 
family after working with her for many years. They couldn't bear to see 
this young woman give up her dreams simply because the federal 
government wanted to punish her for the decision her mother made to 
bring her to this country illegally. This young woman, with the help of 
her community and friends, was able to go to college in California and 
graduated with honors. She was then admitted to graduate school, but 
was unable to attend because the program to which she was admitted 
could not give her the tuition waiver it customarily offers to students 
of her caliber. This young woman was extraordinarily lucky to get the 
help she did in paying for her undergraduate education, but in the end, 
she was in the same place she was before she entered school. She was 
undocumented and had no reasonable means to adjust her status.
  Shortly before I encountered this young woman's family, an 
outstanding young man in my district was brought to my attention 
because he wanted very much to get an appointment to one of the 
military academies and serve his country. He was a successful high 
school student and would have made an excellent appointment. But 
shortly into the process, it was determined that though he had lived in 
the United States for most of his life, he was undocumented and 
wouldn't have been able to accept the nomination. A few weeks after 
this occurred, I was at a dinner where I happened to be seated next to 
the Secretary of the Army. I related the situation to the Secretary 
over dinner, and we discussed what a waste it was to have to turn away 
a young man with such promise and dedication. A few days later I got a 
letter from the Secretary expressing interest in finding a way to let 
young people like my constituent who feel the call to serve their 
country, do so.
  These are the young people who motivated me to introduce this bill, 
and there are students like them in nearly every congressional district 
in the country. Every year I see private bills that Members have 
introduced for constituents in this same situation because there is no 
other relief available to them in our broken immigration laws. I could 
have done the same for my constituents too, but I quickly came to 
realize that there was a much bigger issue to address. I would ask my 
colleagues who introduce these private bills to broaden their focus. 
Instead of seeking to help just one young person, we should fix the 
underlying problem.
  It is almost a mantra in this country. Parents tell their children: 
work hard, get your education, and you will succeed. For undocumented 
immigrant children, this turns out to be a cruel hoax. These young 
people are in many ways, first generation Americans. They were raised 
here by immigrant parents. They don't remember their parents' country 
of origin or feel any tie to it any more than first-generation American 
citizens do. When we first introduced this legislation, I frequently 
received letters from students who told me that they grew up believing 
they were U.S. citizens. They had no knowledge that they'd been brought 
here illegally until they applied for federal financial aid for college 
and they were turned down because their social security number doesn't 
match their name. Their parents never told them.
  We are not the only ones who see the need to act. The plight of these 
students has been addressed by several state legislatures around the 
country. More than a dozen states have enacted laws to provide in-state 
tuition at public colleges and universities for students who have 
attended high school in their state. In the absence of federal action, 
they've done what they can to help students in their communities.
  We've heard from guidance counselors and teachers who work with 
undocumented students and they tell us that once these students learn 
that they are, for all purposes, barred from attending college, their 
academic performance begins to slip, and their drive to excel devolves 
into disinterest. This is the time when dropout rates begin to soar, 
and it is the time that we should step in and ensure that these 
students reach their potential to become productive citizens of our 
country.
  It makes no sense to me that we maintain a system that brings in 
thousands of highly-skilled foreign guestworkers each year to fill a 
gap in our domestic workforce, and at the same time do nothing to 
provide an opportunity to kids who have grown up here, gone to school 
here, and want to prepare themselves for these jobs or serve their 
country in the military. This is the illogical outcome of our current 
immigration laws that the Dream Act will fix. I encourage my colleagues 
to join us in this effort.
  Finally, Madam Speaker, I want to add that the issues addressed in 
the American Dream Act are just a fraction of the problems in our 
immigration system. The Dream Act came about because our immigration 
laws are, and have been for some time, broken. It is very important 
that we pass this piece of legislation this year. But it is my fondest 
hope that we will put together a comprehensive immigration reform 
package that includes the Dream Act as it was introduced today, and it 
is my intention to work for and pass that comprehensive immigration 
reform package this year.

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