[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 28108-28110]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE DREAM ACT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, our Nation was built on the belief that 
no matter where we start from in life, we all have a shot at the 
American dream. I, for one, am very proud of this reputation, and I 
believe it is one we should continue to promote and maintain. 
Unfortunately, Mr. President, somewhere along the way, amid politics 
and rhetoric, the belief that we should now turn our backs on certain 
children in our communities has gained a voice.
  Mr. President, I am here on the floor of the Senate today because I 
believe we need to make sure that America remains a country of 
opportunity for all children, no matter where they come from, no matter 
what language they speak at home, and no matter what obstacles they 
have to overcome. Earlier today in the Senate we had a chance to pay 
more than just lipservice to the idea of opportunity for all. 
Unfortunately, a few Members of this body didn't think it was an 
American priority.
  I still believe in the DREAM Act and its power to not only give hope 
to many today but to make our country stronger in the future. In fact, 
we can still give hope to many by passing the Development, Relief and 
Education for Alien Minors Act. This DREAM Act was narrowly tailored 
bipartisan legislation that would give a select group of undocumented 
students the chance--the chance--to become permanent residents if they 
came to this country as children, are long-term U.S. residents, have 
good moral character, and attend college for at least 2 years or enlist 
in the military. Certainly, Mr. President, those are criteria that all 
of us would be very proud of.
  Senator Durbin previously brought up the DREAM Act as an amendment to 
the Defense authorization bill to address critical manpower shortages 
that are facing our military forces. Under the DREAM Act, tens of 
thousands of well-qualified potential recruits would become eligible 
for military service for the first time. These are young people who 
love our country and are eager to serve in the Armed Forces during a 
time of war. The DREAM Act would add a very strong incentive to enlist 
because it provides a path to permanent legal status.
  The DREAM Act would also make qualified students eligible for 
temporary, legal immigration status upon high school graduation that 
would lead to permanent residency if--if--they attend college.
  Mr. President, critics of this amendment would have you believe this 
is simply a matter of politics. Well, it is not. This is about real 
people, and I want to tell you about one of them. Recently, the Seattle 
Times, a newspaper in my State, featured the story of a young woman 
named Maria who has lived in the United States illegally since her 
parents brought her here at the age of 5. Maria completed high school 
in my home State of Washington. She did really well and was an active 
member of the student body. In fact, she was elected class officer 3 
years in a row. Maria was accepted to the University of Washington. She 
graduated with a high GPA and honors in her department of study.
  Maria is now in her second year of law school, and to quote the 
Seattle Times:

       By all rights, save one, she should have the world by the 
     tail. But she is dogged by the questions: When she graduates, 
     will she be able to take the bar exam? Will she be able to 
     keep helping low-income people as she's done during her 
     internship this summer with a non-profit legal-aid 
     corporation?

  ``The DREAM Act is my only hope,'' Maria said in the article. ``I 
hope and I pray for it.''
  Isn't Maria exactly the type of young person in whom we should be 
investing? She studied hard, she got good grades, she has served her 
school, she has served her community, and now she wants to continue to 
serve her community and our country--the only home she has ever known.
  It is not Maria's fault that her parents brought her to America when 
she was 5 years old. It is not Maria's fault that Congress has not yet 
passed the comprehensive immigration reform we clearly need. But it is 
the thousands of Marias out there who are living the consequences. We 
do need comprehensive immigration reform, but we also need a Government 
that invests in our children and understands that the face of the 
American dream is not just one class or one race or one religion. Our 
Nation is filled with young people who love this country, have beat the 
odds, and whom we should be investing in. We will reap the return we 
invest.
  The reason I know that is from personal experience. When I was young, 
growing up in a family of nine, I thought my family was doing fine. I 
knew we didn't have a lot of money. But my dad was stricken with 
multiple sclerosis when I was a young teacher. All of a sudden, seven 
young kids under the age of 16 didn't know if they would ever be able 
to go to college, didn't know if they would ever even be able to 
graduate from high school or how they were going to face the future.
  Because this country was there for them and we had student loans and 
Pell grants and a country that said: We are there with you, all seven 
of those children graduated from high school and graduated from 
college. Today, this country has a Microsoft employee. They have a 
lawyer who works very hard. They have a young mom who stays home with 
her two kids. They have a newspaper reporter who follows sports around 
the country. They have an eighth grade teacher who has taught now, for 
25-plus years, eighth grade students. And they have a U.S. Senator. 
That is a pretty good investment by our country for those seven kids 
who thought they had lost their hope. That was my family.
  I know what it is like to lose hope, and I know what it is like to 
have hope behind you when your country steps in. That is what we are 
talking about with the DREAM Act--young kids out there who are just 
looking for a country to be behind them, who have the skills, who have 
the capability, who are willing to be a part of this country, to give 
back if they could.

[[Page 28109]]

  This is a real issue which touches real communities and real people 
across our country. I actually got a letter from the superintendent of 
the Lake Chelan School District in north central Washington. I wish to 
read what he wrote. He said:

       Each year I watch students who have worked hard to be 
     successful during high school struggle to continue their 
     education after graduation because of their immigration 
     status. These students are an important part of America's 
     future and we must give them the opportunity to further their 
     education, contribute to society, and help build the American 
     dream for generations to come. Allowing these young people to 
     flourish is not only fair to them, but it also adds value to 
     our country's rich, vibrant, and diverse culture. They 
     deserve that opportunity to succeed regardless of the outcome 
     of the current immigration debate.

  I couldn't agree more. I think it is important that we remember that 
this debate is not just about immigration. It really is about what type 
of country we want to be. It is about what we stand for. It is about 
what type of future we want to build.
  It is pretty easy to get caught up in the specifics of the policies 
we debate. But I encourage all of my colleagues to not lose sight, 
today, as we struggle with this difficult debate, of the bigger 
picture, because this debate touches nearly every aspect of American 
life, from our economy to our security, from our classrooms to our 
workplaces. Most importantly, it speaks about our values.
  I received a letter recently from a high school senior named Victor. 
Victor lives in Walla Walla, a small town on the Washington-Oregon 
border. Victor wrote to me and he said:

       I came to the U.S. when I was 10 years old. My most 
     difficult and only challenge I faced since I came to the U.S. 
     is education. I came to this country not knowing a single 
     word of English, therefore I had to learn it as fast as I 
     could. I was held back a grade and put into English as a 
     Second Language classes. It took me about a year to learn it 
     well enough to where I was able to be in classes with native 
     speakers.
       I am currently part of the National Honors Society and I 
     also take part in fall and spring sports. I have been 
     accepted to the University of Washington and three other 
     Washington universities. . . . My plans are to go to the 
     University of Washington and get a degree in computer 
     science.
       Unfortunately, I come from a low-income family, making it 
     hard for me to make further plans about my education. 
     Currently the federal government will not help with any 
     financial aid to any noncitizen in the United States. How do 
     you expect us to improve ourselves and succeed in this 
     country?

  I would like to ask my colleagues how they answer Victor's question, 
how they expect our Nation to continue to be one of hope, one of 
opportunity, if we close down our children's future rather than handing 
them the keys to success. All of our children should have the 
opportunity to become more successful than their parents, and none of 
them should be punished for their parents' decisions.
  We have thousands of dedicated, motivated, and gifted students who 
have been forced into the shadows through no fault of their own. Like 
Victor, like Maria, they have beaten odds many of us could never even 
imagine, and they want to serve now and contribute back to America's 
future. It would be our mistake to say no.
  I hope my colleagues will reconsider their votes today. I hope they 
will say yes to the DREAM Act and yes to a richer, stronger, more 
vibrant American dream for all of us, for generations to come.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, more than 65,000 immigrant students will 
graduate from U.S. high schools this year only to see the doors of 
opportunity closed to them. These are gifted and highly motivated 
children who grew up in the United States. For these children, many of 
whom arrived to this country as babies, America is the only home they 
know. They speak English fluently, and for many it is their first and 
only language. Many have never even visited the country of their birth. 
They have been educated in our public school system. They have stayed 
in school and stayed out of trouble. These kids are honor students, 
team captains, student body presidents, and valedictorians.
  Many would like nothing more than to contribute to the only country 
they have ever known as home. But for these children, because of their 
immigration status, they are often effectively barred from pursuing a 
post-secondary education and reaching their full potential. Through no 
fault of their own, they are forced to live in the shadows and denied 
their chance at achieving their God-given potential.
  What are we saying to these hard-working students? Well I will tell 
you. We are saying they are not welcome in the only country they have 
ever known. We are telling them to go back to another country they 
often know little about, where they may not speak the language or 
understand the culture. These are children caught at a crossroads, and 
rather than providing them with an opportunity, we are holding them 
accountable for the actions of their parents.
  That is not the America I know.
  There is a solution to this crisis, but, sadly, the Senate today 
failed to act. The DREAM Act--which I have proudly cosponsored for 
several years--would help expand opportunities for our Nation's 
immigrant children. For those students who have grown up in the United 
States, have demonstrated good moral character, and are pursuing a 
college education or have enlisted in the military, the DREAM Act will 
provide an opportunity to earn legal status in this country.
  There are many good reasons to enact the DREAM Act. In today's 21st 
century economy, where a post-secondary education is quickly becoming 
the minimum requirement for higher earning jobs, we need to provide the 
children in our country with every opportunity to achieve academically, 
both for their benefit but also for the benefit of our society. The 
DREAM Act would also strengthen our Nation's military readiness, 
allowing these well-qualified young men and women to serve their 
country with honor. But most importantly, the DREAM Act ensures that 
the promise of the American dream becomes a reality for all our 
children.
  I am disappointed that the Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act. The 
enactment of this legislation is long overdue, and I will continue to 
fight for its passage, for all of our children and our Nation.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask consent to speak as in morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for their remarks 
that were just concluded on the DREAM Act and for the vote in support 
of it. It is interesting to me that those who have taken no time to 
meet the students who were involved in this issue come away with a much 
different feeling. Once this goes beyond cliches and inflammatory 
rhetoric that you hear in what passes for entertainment--television and 
radio--and you actually sit down and hear these life stories, you just 
can't help but have your heart touched by them. It happened to me a 
long time ago, 6 years ago, and it continues to happen to me. But, 
unfortunately, we didn't have the votes. We had 52 votes when we needed 
60. In the Senate, 60 votes is a threshold requirement.
  I thank the 11 Republicans who voted with me. I will tell you, it 
took some courage for them to do it. It is not an easy vote for 
anybody. It is surely not an easy vote for them when the vast majority 
of their colleagues are going the other way.
  I also thank the 41 Democrats who stood by me. Some of them did it 
with pain in their eyes, thinking about: Now I have to go home and 
explain this one. I understand that. I thank them for doing that.
  After you have been around Capitol Hill for a few years--and I have--
you try to put things in perspective about your public service. I don't 
believe

[[Page 28110]]

there are many, if any, who come to the Senate with the ambition of 
retiring. Most of us come here with the ambition of doing something 
important for our Nation and serving our Nation. There reaches a point 
sometime in a career where risks have to be taken for important things 
to happen. What I did today was no great risk. I will probably hear 
about it back home, and I already have a little bit, but I will just 
say in the course of our history the important things that have 
occurred here in this Chamber have involved political risk and 
controversy--whether it is a question of voting on war or voting on 
issues involving civil rights and human rights. It is rare that you 
find a great issue that makes a career that everybody agrees with.
  I say to my colleagues who joined in this effort today, thank you 
from the bottom of my heart, but thanks also to the thousands of young 
people across America who continue to follow this debate and follow 
this issue so closely. The toughest part was not standing in the well 
and being told that I lost with only 52 votes; the toughest part was 
walking up those stairs and facing 3 of the kids in my office. I didn't 
quite know what to expect. These young people have been through a lot, 
through no fault of their own.
  One young man whose stepgrandfather failed to file the appropriate 
documents is 20 years old. A few years ago, he was arrested and 
detained in jail over Christmas and New Year's. How is that for a high 
school graduation present, to be told that you are illegal and subject 
to deportation?
  Another young woman--her parents were outed as being illegal and 
deported. I pled with the Department of Homeland Security to let her 
stay in school and finish her college degree, and they have allowed her 
to do that. I hope they will continue to. But she doesn't know where 
she is going from here. She has lived in the United States since she 
was a very young girl and this is her country, this is where she wants 
to be.
  Another one is literally a young woman without a country. A refugee 
from Vietnam, she went to Germany and then came to the United States. 
Vietnam is not a safe place for her to return to, and Germany doesn't 
want her. She is without a country. She has a bachelor's degree and no 
place to turn.
  I didn't quite know what to expect when I went up to see them after 
this disappointing vote, and they greeted me with smiles and 
encouragement. It is great to work around young people; they have such 
determination and energy, and they are not going to let anything get 
them down. It made me feel better, and I am glad we did it even though 
we weren't successful. It renewed my commitment to this issue.
  I am not going to quit. I don't know when the next chance will be. I 
know we have a busy schedule, and Senator Reid was kind enough to give 
me the chance today for a vote, but this is an idea whose time will 
come because it is an idea based on justice and fairness. To think 
these young people would see their lives ruined because their parents 
were undocumented, because their parents brought them to this country, 
to think we would turn them away from America, saying we don't need any 
more electrical engineers, we don't need any more teachers and nurses 
and doctors--no, we know better than that. We need them. We need all of 
them, and their strength makes us a stronger Nation.
  So the day will come, and I hope soon, when we will have a chance for 
those who follow the debate so closely and to those who understood 
their fate was in the hands of the Senators who voted this morning.
  Do not give up. We have not given up yet and you should not give up. 
We are going to keep pursuing this. We are in a sad and troubling 
moment in American history when the issue of immigration is so 
divisive. But let's be honest, it has always been divisive. There have 
always been people saying: No more immigrants, please, in this nation 
of immigrants.
  Immigrants have to play by the rules. They have to follow the law. I 
understand that. But let's not turn our back on our heritage as a 
nation. The strength of America is its diversity. The fact that we come 
from the four corners of the world to call this place home, the fact 
that our parents and grandparents had the courage to pick up and move, 
rather than to be content with a life of mediocre opportunity--those 
are the people who made America, those are the ones who defined who we 
are. It is why we are special in this world, if we are, and I think we 
are.
  We cannot let these young people go. We cannot afford to let them go. 
For those several of the Senators today who stuck their necks out a 
mile, a political mile to cast this vote, I thank you from the bottom 
of my heart, and these DREAM Act kids thank you too. The American dream 
will be there some day, and we will keep working until it happens.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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