[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9907-9908]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            DACA ANNIVERSARY

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, this week we marked 3 years since President 
Obama created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. He 
did this in response to Congress' failure to pass the DREAM Act and 
help children of undocumented immigrants stay here and help build a 
better future for America.
  For children who probably know no language other than English and 
know no country other than America, for many of these immigrants 
brought here as children through no fault of their own, America is the 
only home they have ever known. They love this country, and they 
deserve a chance to stay and contribute to our Nation's future.
  President Obama announced an expanded DACA last year, along with the 
program that deals with parents of such children to help the immigrant 
parents of American citizens and legal residents. Unfortunately, a 
partisan lawsuit has held up their implementation, and Republicans have 
now voted three times to end this opportunity for children of 
immigrants. They would split families apart.
  If my Republican friends wish to change our immigration policies, 
they

[[Page 9908]]

have a perfect vehicle, Mr. Speaker, for doing so: a comprehensive 
immigration reform bill supported, in my opinion, by a majority of the 
House of Representatives. Let's bring such a bill to the floor so that 
we can fix our broken immigration system and create a pathway to 
citizenship for these DREAMers and others who have been living and 
working here for almost all their lives.

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