[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9075-9077]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             THE DREAM ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is my honor to come to the Senate floor 
this evening to speak on the issue of the DREAM Act and to have among 
those in attendance on the floor of the Senate a group of Senators from 
Mexico who are part of the Mexican-American interparliamentary union. 
They are here on the floor with the majority leader, Harry Reid, as 
well as Senator Tom Udall, who is coordinating their visit to the 
United States over the next several days. We are honored that they are 
here and that they are allowed to come on the floor and to witness our 
Senate, at least in this proceeding where I will make a brief 
statement.
  The issue I am going to raise in the course of this evening is one 
that is of importance to many people around the world--certainly in the 
United States and certainly in the nation of Mexico.
  Ten years ago, I introduced a bill known as the DREAM Act. The DREAM 
Act was an effort to put into the law an opportunity for young people 
who were brought to the United States and are undocumented to have a 
chance to become legal in the United States.
  The first person brought to my attention was a young woman in 
Chicago, IL, who was Korean. She came to the United States at the age 
of 2. She was an accomplished musician. She had been accepted at the 
very best music schools in America, including Juilliard School of Music 
and the Manhattan School of Music.
  As she filled out her application form, she asked her mother about 
her nationality and citizenship. Her mother told her: I am sorry, I 
don't know the answer because we never filed any papers. We brought you 
here as a baby and you have lived here all your life, but we don't know 
what your status is.

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  She said: What should we do?
  Her mom said: We should call Durbin's office.
  So they called my office, and we checked on the laws in America, and 
unfortunately the laws did not allow her to be treated as a legal 
person in the United States. In fact, the American law said she had to 
return to the country she came from, which coincidentally was Brazil, 
not Korea. She had no way of knowing that. Her family had gone from 
Korea to Brazil to the United States. There she was at the age of 18 
with a great opportunity ahead of her and no country. She had lived for 
16 years in the United States. She believed she was an American. She 
knew no other country. She got up every day in school and said the 
Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem. Yet she was a person 
without a country.
  Well, it was because of her that I introduced the DREAM Act 10 years 
ago. What it basically says is that many young people who are brought 
to the United States as children should not be punished because their 
parents didn't file the necessary papers. The DREAM Act would give 
these students a chance to become legal in America. They would have to 
first prove they came here as a child, they are long-term U.S. 
residents, they have good moral character, graduate from high school, 
and be prepared to do one of two things: either serve in the U.S. 
military or complete at least 2 years of college.
  So I introduced this bill 10 years ago thinking it was a simple 
matter of justice that these young people would have their chance. I 
had no idea how many young people were affected or would be affected. 
As I went around the city of Chicago and the State of Illinois and 
spoke at gatherings about the DREAM Act, it wasn't unusual for young 
people to be waiting for me outside afterward, and they would say very 
quietly: I am one of those DREAM Act kids. I was brought here, and I am 
undocumented, and I don't know what I am going to do with my life. They 
would be very quiet about it. I would say: Well, I will do my best to 
pass this law.
  As time passed and we tried to bring this to the floor many times, 
things changed some. We picked up support from a lot of different 
people.
  The Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, supports the DREAM Act. He 
called me one day and said: As the former president of Texas A&M, I 
know what it means to have college students who cannot attend an away 
game for any sports because they are undocumented, and if they were 
stopped and asked to produce identification, they could be deported. As 
Secretary of Defense, I know what it would mean if we could bring these 
young people into the American military. There would be more diversity. 
We would be a stronger nation, so I support it.
  GEN Colin L. Powell also has endorsed the DREAM Act. He believes, as 
I do, that this is a fair thing to do, a just thing to do, and would be 
good for our military.
  Over the years, these young people started coming forward more and 
more and speaking about their lives, and, perhaps with more bravado 
than they should have, they were prepared to risk deportation to tell 
their stories. Over the years, these Dreamers have become an important 
part of this effort to pass the DREAM Act. We have the support of so 
many groups across America, including religious groups and many others 
who believe this is the right and fair thing to do. We invite young 
people across America, if they want to voluntarily do so, to tell us 
their stories.
  I come to the floor of the Senate tonight to tell two stories about 
two young DREAM Act people and their lives.
  The first one is Juan Rios. This is a photograph of Juan Rios, who 
was brought to the United States when he was 10 years old. He grew up 
in the State of Arizona. In high school, Juan discovered his calling: 
military service. He became a leader in the Air Force Junior ROTC, as 
we can see from his uniform. He became group commander and arm drill 
team captain and rose to the rank of cadet lieutenant colonel. Juan 
dreamed of one day attending the Air Force Academy, but he was unable 
to do so because he is undocumented. Instead, Juan enrolled in Arizona 
State University.
  This is a more recent photograph of Juan on his commencement day at 
Arizona State University. Juan graduated from Arizona State University 
with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Since graduation, Juan has 
been waiting for his chance to either serve in our military or to use 
his degree. He can't enlist, obviously, because he is undocumented, and 
he can't work in his field--the aeronautics industry--because of the 
same legal obstacle.
  He just sent me a letter, and this is what it said:

       The United States of America is the country I want to live 
     my life in, where I want to flourish as a productive citizen, 
     where I want to grow old among my lifelong friends, where I 
     want to one day fall in love and raise a family.

  What we heard from Juan we could hear from young people all across 
America. It is his American dream--a dream that won't come true unless 
we pass the DREAM Act.
  This next young lady I wish to introduce my colleagues to is someone 
I met just a few weeks ago. This is Tolu Olubumni. She was brought to 
the United States from Nigeria when she was a child. She graduated from 
high school here in the United States at the top of her class. She won 
a full scholarship to a prestigious university in Virginia and in 2002 
graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.
  It has been 10 years since I first introduced the DREAM Act in 2001 
and almost 10 years since she graduated from college. The DREAM Act has 
yet to become law, and she has yet to work 1 day as a chemical engineer 
because she is undocumented. Instead, Tolu has dedicated her life to 
passing the DREAM Act for her benefit and the benefit of others. For 
years, she has worked as a full-time volunteer. Recently, she wrote me 
a letter, and this is what she said:

       I don't have a powerful organization behind me or a fancy 
     job title or even a paycheck, but I am committed to stand and 
     fight for you for as long as you ask me to.

  Tolu is not standing alone. Her commitment and the commitment of many 
other Dreamers is what inspires me to continue this effort for the 
DREAM Act.
  There are so many others like Tolu who are living a life of 
uncertainty. They have amazing accomplishments in their lives, and yet 
they can't use the degrees they have earned to make this a better 
nation and to have a whole life of their own. So last month I 
reintroduced the DREAM Act. Tolu joined me on that occasion, with 
Senator Harry Reid, who has been a strong supporter; Bob Menendez, our 
Hispanic colleague here in the Senate; and Richard Blumenthal from the 
State of Connecticut.
  Here is what Tolu said:

       Passing the DREAM Act is critically important to me and so 
     many others. I don't believe I am entitled to anything more 
     than what this great Nation has taught me--that we all have a 
     right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

  She is right. Thousands of immigrant students in the United States 
were brought here as children. It wasn't their decision to come, but 
they grew up here, they made it their home, and they are prepared to 
make this a better Nation.
  Some of my colleagues have come to the floor of the Senate 
criticizing the DREAM Act because people under the age of 35 are 
eligible. They say the DREAM Act should really only benefit children. 
They ignore the obvious: In order to qualify for the DREAM Act, an 
individual must have come to the United States as a child, just like 
Tolu. Now she is 30 years old. She has been waiting patiently for 10 
years. To say she is now ineligible because we have not acted I think 
would be fundamentally unfair.
  Today we had an interesting speech which I listened to on the floor. 
It was the first speech--so-called maiden speech--of our colleague, 
Senator Marco Rubio from Florida. It was an excellent speech, and I 
complimented him afterward. Among the things he talked about was the 
contribution of immigrants to the United States.
  I am a first-generation American. My mother was an immigrant to this 
country. One hundred years ago, in 1911, her

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mother brought her at the age of 2 into this country. My mother didn't 
become a citizen until her mid-twenties, after she was married and had 
already had two children. She was a very proud and hard-working woman, 
raised a good family, I think--I am a little bit partial--and now her 
son is a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
  This is not just my story. It is not just my family's story. This is 
the American story. This is who we are, immigrants who came to this 
country and risked everything to be a part of America and only asked 
for a chance--a chance to make this a better Nation and to create a 
better life for them and their families. The DREAM Act will give 
thousands of young people across America that chance to become a part 
of America's future. It is the just and fair thing to do to make us a 
stronger Nation and to keep our promise that we are going to be fair in 
the way we administer the laws.
  I urge my colleagues to take a look at the version of the DREAM Act 
that has been introduced. I urge them as well to join me as cosponsors. 
We will work carefully with other countries and other nations to make 
sure we demonstrate to them the sense of fairness that is part of 
America.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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