[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 11, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H7928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
CHALLENGE TO DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS TO WORK TOGETHER TO PASS A DACA 
                                  FIX

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, there are upwards of 800,000 DREAMers in our 
country--young, de facto Americans, people who grew up here, are as 
American as you or I, American in fact, albeit not in law. They are 
able to work legally under the deferred action, or DACA program, that 
President Obama has set up. That has been jeopardized by an 
announcement that President Trump will be terminating that program 
within 6 months.
  Now we are down to about 4\1/2\ months, a challenge to this body, 
Democrats and Republicans, to work together to rectify the legal 
situation of 800,000 de facto Americans. This body must act. We can't 
leave these young Americans in limbo with regard to what their future 
prospects are to work.
  Make no bones about it, if this body fails to act, over 800,000 
aspiring Americans will no longer be able to go to work legally the 
very next day after deferred action expires. In the interest of 
unifying families, in the interest of these young people who are as 
American as you or I, in the interest of our economic growth and 
prosperity, I call upon my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
stop playing politics and finally pass a DACA fix, like the Dream Act, 
into law to make sure that they can give back to the country that has 
given so much to them.

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