[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19711-19715]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  DACA

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, Senator Durbin has been leading a group of 
us talking about DACA, or the Dreamers. I wish to tell the Senate two 
stories.
  I wish to tell you about Elisha Dawkins. He was a baby who was 
brought from the Bahamas at age 6 months. He grew up in America. He 
grew up in Jacksonville, FL. He never knew anything about his roots. He 
only knew that he was in America.
  He served two tours in Iraq. He came back and joined the Navy 
Reserve. He had a top secret clearance and was sent to the very 
sensitive post of Guantanamo, where he was given a job as a 
photographer--obviously, a very sensitive position.
  Through an application for a passport and checking on the background 
of the passport, it came to be learned that he had come to America as 
an infant, and for what reason--for the life of me, it has not been 
explained--he was arrested and thrown in jail by a U.S. attorney. Once 
this case came to the light of day and some of us started speaking out 
about it, a Federal district judge took it in her hands to lecture the 
U.S. attorney, and only because of that, Elisha Dawkins was released 
from jail.
  As a result, we then started getting into it, and Elisha Dawkins was 
finally given his citizenship, and he is now serving in his native 
Jacksonville. He is a nurse.
  Here is an individual who had served two tours in Iraq and was in a 
top secret clearance in the service to the Navy Reserve in Guantanamo. 
This just shouldn't happen. Individuals in good faith have gone about 
carrying on--some not even knowing; and Elisha certainly didn't know of 
his undocumented status--but now we have many others. These 
individuals, in good faith, have divulged personal information to the 
Department of Homeland Security, which could eventually deport them, 
and that is why it is critical that we pass the Dream Act as soon as 
possible.
  I have heard from DACA recipients from all around the country, but 
especially I have heard from a lot of the 30,000 who are in the State 
of Florida. I have heard from DACA recipients who are valedictorians, 
medical students, even priests. Many are the primary breadwinners for 
their families.
  Senator Durbin has already highlighted some of my constituents over

[[Page 19712]]

the years, including Cristina Velasquez, a graduate of Miami Dade 
community college who will soon graduate from Georgetown University and 
fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher for Teach For America.
  Cristina came to America at age 6 from Venezuela, a country whose 
problems Senator Durbin and I, but also the Presiding Officer today, 
have consistently been concerned about--the plight of Venezuela.
  If we fail to pass the Dream Act, are we saying that we are going to 
send Cristina back to the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, a 
dictatorship that can't even provide the basic staples for its 
citizens? Are we going to allow this young lady--who grew up thinking 
she was an American, now graduating from Georgetown--to channel her 
skills and her passion toward bettering our communities in need as a 
teacher? It doesn't make any sense to deport these kids.
  The contributions that Dreamers have made are countless, and Cristina 
and Elisha are just two examples. These Dreamers will continue to 
better our communities if only we will pass the legislation that 
Senator Durbin is sponsoring and many of us are cosponsoring.
  Rhetorically--this was going to be a time of question and answers, 
but Senator Durbin allowed me to kick off this session, and I see that 
we have many other Senators to speak.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. UDALL. Thank you, Mr. President, for the recognition.
  Mr. President, the President of the United States terminated the 
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, otherwise known as 
DACA, 3 months ago. He gave Congress 6 months to act. We are no closer 
today to helping our Dreamers than the day the President so callously 
canceled the program.
  We have almost 800,000 young people whose lives, dreams, and futures 
hang in the balance. They are scared. Their families are scared. 
Everything they have worked for is at risk.
  Dreamers represent some of our very best and brightest. They are 
going to school, holding down jobs, volunteering in our communities. 
They want to be doctors, lawyers, engineers. They want to start 
businesses.
  They came here as children, and they are American through and 
through. They love our country as much as any of us, and they want to 
stay and contribute.
  We have almost 7,000 Dreamers in my home State of New Mexico. Carlos 
is one of them. Carlos was brought to New Mexico from Mexico when he 
was less than 1 year old. New Mexico is the only home Carlos has ever 
known.
  Because of Carlos's immigration status, his opportunities were 
limited. He couldn't play sports in school, and he couldn't go on field 
trips, even though he pledged allegiance to the United States, just 
like his classmates.
  Carlos registered with DACA 2 years ago, and in his words, he was 
given ``wings.'' He is now a full-time student at New Mexico State 
University, studying to be a mechanical engineer. He volunteers as a 
firefighter. He works as a server at a local restaurant, and he began a 
drive to help Hurricane Harvey victims.
  Carlos says: ``We, as Dreamers, have proven ourselves to be worthy of 
being here in the United States.''
  Carlos's story can be told hundreds of thousands of times over. 
Congress must act, and we must act now. We owe it to these young 
people. We must give Carlos and all other Dreamers their wings.
  Passing the Dream Act is the morally right thing to do, but it is 
also the economically smart thing to do. Dreamers' contributions to the 
U.S. economy are astounding. Their jobs span the spectrum. They work in 
health, education, nonprofits, wholesale, retail, business, and hold 
professional jobs. Most of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies employ 
Dreamers, and that is why more than 400 CEOs of major U.S. companies 
have urged Congress to pass the Dream Act.
  If Congress fails to act, it will cost us 700,000 jobs--as many as 
30,000 jobs a month--causing chaos for employers, and we could see a 
$460 billion decrease in economic output over a decade. Social Security 
and Medicare contributions could drop by $39.3 billion over the same 
period.
  In my State, New Mexico would lose nearly 6,000 DACA workers and take 
a $385 million hit. We simply cannot afford it.
  We have a bipartisan Dream Act before us. Senator Durbin is working 
with our Republican colleagues, Republican friends, to get us over the 
finish line. Let's do the right thing by these young people, and let's 
do it now so Carlos can become an engineer and so hundreds of thousands 
of Dreamers can stop living in fear and move forward with their lives. 
It is our moral obligation to do this.
  We also must do right by the 11 million immigrants in our Nation who 
are working, raising families, contributing to our economy, and helping 
in our communities. Congress must stop kicking the can down the road. 
We must do our job. We must debate and pass comprehensive immigration 
reform. Law-abiding immigrants who are contributing to our Nation 
should be given a pathway to citizenship.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill 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, on September 5 of this year, Attorney 
General Jeff Sessions announced the repeal of the Deferred Action for 
Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA. That same day, President 
Trump called on Congress to come up with a solution to legalize DACA.
  He challenged us; he said to the Senate, and he said to the House: I 
am going to eliminate this Executive order of President Obama. Now it 
is your turn. Pass a law if you want to protect 780,000 young people 
who had signed up under DACA.
  DACA was the direct result of the DREAM Act, which I introduced 16 
years ago, to try to protect young people who came to the United 
States, brought here by their parents at an early age, who grew up here 
and don't have a future. They don't have a home. They don't have a 
legal status. They don't have a country to call their own.
  It strikes me that these young people themselves did nothing wrong. I 
can even argue that their parents did what every parent would do--the 
best thing they could for their kids. But in this situation, trying to 
focus on what their future will be, their future is clearly in doubt, 
and right now many of them are worried about what is going to happen 
next.
  You see, without the protection of DACA, they can be deported. They 
are undocumented. They can't legally work in the United States, and 
many of them have wondered whether they should continue school or what 
they will do when they can't go to work. These are real-life 
challenges, and many times they break down emotionally as they talk 
about the uncertainty of their future.
  Just outside this Capitol is a beautiful Mall, and smack dab in the 
middle of it are two white tents. They are tents that have been built 
by these young Dreamers in an effort to process hundreds of people, 
just like themselves, who are coming to Washington to tell their 
stories to Senators and Congressmen in the hopes that we will do 
something.
  There are some in the Senate who don't want to help them at all. They 
don't believe they should receive any help in any way whatsoever. There 
are others who say: Let's put it off. Let's do it sometime, maybe next 
year. Next year is coming soon, and under the President's decision, on 
March 5 of 2018--just a few weeks from now--there will be no DACA 
protection whatsoever.
  It means that today, 122 a day of these DACA-protected young people 
will fall out of protected status. March 5 of next year, the number 
goes to 1,000 a day--1,000 a day--who will be subject to deportation, 
uncertain about what their future might be.

[[Page 19713]]

  I think it is time for us to do something, and I hope that we can do 
it on a bipartisan basis and do it in a timely fashion. It is important 
that we fix our entire immigration system, but let's not try to do 
everything that needs to be done on immigration when we should be 
taking care of these young people as our highest and first priority.
  I am ready to sign up for immigration reform. I was there before. It 
was called the Gang of 8--four Democrats and four Republicans. A few 
years ago, we came up with a comprehensive bill to pass the Senate. The 
Republicans in the House refused to even call for a hearing, let alone 
a vote on the floor.
  We should do our part to pass the new DACA, the new Dream Act. Do it 
before we leave this year. Do it this year so that we can spare these 
young people the anxiety and stress and fear they have because of the 
current situation and so that we can meet President Trump's challenge.
  I didn't like the fact that he eliminated DACA, but it is fair for 
him to say to us: You have 6 months, Congress. Now do something.
  I am not in control here. I am in the minority, being a Democrat. It 
is up to Republican leaders here.
  All I hear from Republican leaders is: Let's wait until next year and 
see if we have time to get around to this. We have the time, all the 
time we need now, to do this.
  I want to thank a number of people. First, I want to thank the 34 
Republican House Members who, last week, sent a letter to the Speaker 
of the House, Paul Ryan, saying that we should fix the DACA system 
before we leave this year. Thank you to those 34 Republicans.
  In this Chamber, I want to thank 6 or 10 Republican Senators who have 
either cosponsored the Dream Act or are now actively engaged in helping 
to rewrite its replacement in the Senate. I am sure this kind of 
bipartisanship is a surprise to those who follow Congress, but it is an 
indication that many people share my belief that it is a simple matter 
of justice to give these young people their chance to become part of 
America's future.
  I started a few years ago, when the Dreamers worked up the courage to 
declare publicly that they were undocumented--frightening their parents 
but giving them some unity and identity in America. I started coming to 
the floor when they sent me their color photos and telling their 
stories because there is no speech I could give that matches the 
stories of their lives. Each time I tell a story, I know it makes a 
difference. I know the people who are watching this on C-SPAN and those 
who are in the Galleries here in the Senate pay close attention because 
we are talking about real lives and real people.
  Tonight I want to tell you about Carla Martinez. Carla Martinez was 
brought to the United States from Mexico at the age of 8. She grew up 
in the Austin and Pflugerville area of Texas, and she was an excellent 
student. In middle school and high school, she enrolled in advanced 
placement and community college courses, and she was recognized as an 
AP scholar student. In high school, she participated in the band, and 
she worked and volunteered in her community. During her senior year, 
Carla would go to school from 9 a.m. until 2:30 in the afternoon, then 
she would work from 3 in the afternoon until 11 at night and only then 
start her homework.
  In August 2012, Carla began her studies at the University of Texas, 
San Antonio, obtaining a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. A 
student like Carla, who is undocumented, did not qualify for Federal 
Government assistance. It meant there was no Pell grant to help her pay 
for college or a Federal loan to help her pay for college. She had to 
work to earn the money to pay her way through school. Something which 
many people would shrink away from, she accepted the reality of being 
undocumented in America. Because she was ineligible for financial aid, 
she worked to support herself, and she often had to choose between food 
and buying books.
  During college, Carla was also an officer in a number of 
organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers. She was a 
College of Engineering Ambassador, which means she had to maintain a 
very high GPA at the University of Texas. During her summers, Carla 
interned at Alpha Testing and the San Antonio Water System while she 
also worked as an engineering camp counselor.
  In August of 2016, Carla was the first DACA recipient to study abroad 
with the University of Texas at San Antonio's Education Abroad Program. 
She studied in as part of the first group of students to participate in 
the Urbino, Italy, civil engineering program.
  Because she couldn't get financial aid, studying abroad was more 
difficult for her than the other students who were part of the program. 
Not only did she need the money to go to college, she needed to raise 
the money to pay for the study abroad. She never gave up.
  One of her professors said:

       Carla is a very dedicated student. She has excellent 
     organizational skills and works well with her classmates. She 
     is a team player. Her involvement with the College is 
     fantastic--she has been an ambassador.

  In May 2017, Carla graduated from the University of Texas at San 
Antonio with a civil engineering degree and two job offers. Today she 
works full-time at M&S Engineering as a water/wastewater engineer.
  Her dreams for the future are to go back to school and get a master's 
in business and engineering and to give back by creating a scholarship 
program to help fund other engineering students.
  Carla wrote me a letter about her worries because of President 
Trump's decision to take away her protection from being deported from 
the United States. Here is what she said: ``Every day that passes, it's 
a day closer to not being able to work, not having a driver's license, 
and not being able to financially provide for my family as the head of 
the household.''
  People like Carla are the reason more than 400 business leaders 
signed a letter to all Members of Congress urging us to do something 
and pass a bipartisan Dream Act. The letter says:

       Dreamers are vital to the future of our companies and our 
     economy. With them, we grow and create jobs. They are part of 
     why we continue to have a global competitive advantage.

  That gathering of Dreamers out on the Mall, just away from the 
Capitol dome here, are a lot of young people just like Carla. They are 
coming here in the hopes that Members of Congress will slow down in the 
hallways on the way to their office or to a committee hearing and just 
hear for a moment their stories--stories just like Carla's--stories 
that really beg us to do something. We know we have to, we know we 
should, and there is absolutely no reason to delay it.
  Why would we want this amazing young woman, who has done so many 
extraordinary things in her life, to live with this uncertainty 1 
minute more than she has to? Why wouldn't we step up and do what we are 
supposed to do?
  I am working on this with colleagues. A number of Republican Senators 
have been sitting down in my office, even today, trying to work out the 
details on a compromise. We are not quite there, but there was a 
determination in our meeting today to get there, to put something 
together.
  I would like to do this before we leave for the holidays. I think it 
is only right that we try our very best to achieve that, and I think we 
can. I think if Members of both sides show good faith, we can reach 
that goal.
  I want to especially thank Lindsey Graham, my cosponsor of the Dream 
Act, and Jeff Flake of Arizona, another cosponsor, who have stepped up 
and really just shown extraordinary commitment to this cause. We also 
have Lisa Murkowski and Cory Gardner as well who are cosponsors of the 
same legislation, and there are other Senators who are working with us 
behind the scenes to get this done. Some of them I know are taking a 
political risk to do it, but they believe it is the right thing to do, 
and they want to be on the record to be part of the solution. I am 
looking forward to working with them.
  In a few weeks--maybe only 10 days now--Congress is going to adjourn 
to

[[Page 19714]]

go home for the holidays, but Dreamers can't go home for the holidays 
because they really don't have a home. They are homeless in America 
because they are waiting on us to come up with the legislation that 
defines their status and gives them a future. Hundreds of thousands of 
Dreamers can't enjoy the holidays the way many of us can because of 
their concern about being deported from the United States of America, 
separated from parents, brothers and sisters, friends, family, and 
loved ones.
  When we introduced the Dream Act, Senator Lindsey Graham, a 
Republican from South Carolina, said: ``The moment of reckoning is 
coming.'' Well, that moment is here. Congress has the responsibility to 
do our job to make the Dream Act the law of the land before the end of 
this year or bear the responsibility for forcing hundreds of thousands 
of talented young immigrants out of the workforce and putting them at 
risk of immediate deportation.
  The question we face is very basic, Will the United States of America 
be a better nation if Carla is forced to leave? This woman's 
determination, her drive, and her talent have brought her to this 
glorious moment when she finally graduated college. With this degree 
and with this education, she can offer us so much more and really serve 
America and its future.
  This is the country she loves. She deserves the respect of this 
country, and she deserves the determination of the Members of the 
Senate to take this up as a highest priority in the closing days of 
this Senate session.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Illinois.
  Ms. DUCKWORTH. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Illinois for 
all the work he does on behalf of Dreamers throughout the country. His 
leadership in this effort is absolutely inspiring.
  I am here to speak out in favor of passing a clean Dream Act to 
create a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants who enrich our 
country and strengthen our economy and national security. The passage 
of the Dream Act is critical to the thousands of Dreamers living in 
Illinois.
  I want to share one young woman's story. This is Christian 
Villalobos. Christian traveled from Mexico with her mother and younger 
sister because her mother was fleeing an abusive marriage. At only 6 
years old, Christian was brought to the United States not knowing a 
word of English. She needed to adapt quickly to her new home.
  Christian worked hard in school to learn English and made great 
efforts to excel in all of her academic subjects. Then, when she was in 
the third grade, she was diagnosed with a learning disability, which 
might have caused her to become frustrated and to see a decline in her 
grades. However, in her own words, she said:

       I didn't let that get in the way and I did not let bad 
     influences in my neighborhood get to me. There, in the back 
     of my head, there was always a little voice saying, 
     ``Education is the way to a better life.''

  Christian pushed through and finished middle school and high school 
as an honor student and, despite her constant hard work and proven 
academic record, she faced an unexpected obstacle--adults in her life 
who doubted her ability to attain a college education. As she tells it, 
many adults in her life simply assumed that an undocumented student 
like Christian could not obtain a college education. While these doubts 
broke her heart, she was not deterred.
  Christian's hard work, grit, and academic merit all earned her 
admission to Northern Illinois University where she received a private 
scholarship. She also worked multiple retail jobs selling flowers, 
shoes, and clothing to fund her education. Although her future was 
uncertain, Christian never let up on her academics or her many work 
responsibilities to put herself through school.
  Finally, in the last few years of her college education, she received 
some relief with the implementation of the DACA Program. In 2015, she 
became the first person in her family to graduate with a bachelor's 
degree.
  She had a job offer right after graduation which, as anyone can tell 
you, is not an easy feat. Although her DACA work permit expired that 
summer, when she had intended to start working full-time, her company 
was so invested in having her come on board that they worked with 
Christian to ensure that her DACA work permit was renewed. Their 
investment was worthwhile. Within the first 2 years at her company, 
Christian reached No. 1 in sales nationwide. She is now a branch 
manager of her company and consistently one of the top performers in 
sales.
  Christian also opened doors for other DACA recipients who have joined 
her at her company and are also excelling in their roles. She is just 
one of thousands of Dreamers who positively contribute to our Nation.
  It is evident that our businesses and communities benefit and thrive 
from the work ethic and the perseverance Dreamers like Christian 
possess. There are no truer American values than to work hard, 
accomplish your goals, and to have the ability to fully contribute to 
society.
  Unfortunately, due to the Trump administration's elimination of DACA, 
nearly 800,000 of our young people like Christian are now vulnerable to 
deportation. Thousands of young people who participated in the DACA 
Program and who are legally in the United States may no longer be able 
to serve as doctors, teachers, students, and, yes, even servicemembers 
in our military. This decision will also tear families and communities 
apart.
  I implore my colleagues in the Senate to recognize the contributions 
of our DACA recipients throughout the country. I urge my colleagues to 
not shortchange the thousands of Dreamers who learn and work alongside 
our families and friends. We must do everything we can to make sure the 
Dream Act is addressed before the holidays.
  I will not turn my back on Dreamers like Christian, and I will fight 
to protect DACA recipients as we work to make the Dream Act the law of 
the land.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tillis). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in 
expressing my support for taking action on the Dream Act, as well as to 
express my continued opposition to the administration's decision to end 
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
  I thank my colleague Senator Durbin for organizing today's remarks, 
as well as for his years of leadership and tireless advocacy on behalf 
of the Dreamers, along with Senator Graham, who is leading this very 
important bill with Senator Durbin.
  It is critically important that the Senate pass the Dream Act and not 
wait any longer to take action. There are 22,000 eligible DACA 
recipients who did not meet the administration's deadline to renew 
their statuses, and as a result, about 122 Dreamers are now losing 
their DACA statuses every day. That is more than 11,000 who have 
already lost their statuses as of today, and that number will continue 
to increase every single day that we fail to act. This is nothing on 
which we can wait--wait a week, wait 1 month, wait 2 months. Every 
single day, it affects more people. So, while some have suggested that 
we wait until March to fix this issue, the reality is that the Senate 
needs to take action now.
  Since it was first established in 2012, DACA has helped nearly 
800,000 young people who have lived since childhood in the United 
States to better contribute to their families and communities, 
including more than 6,000 who are in my State. I recently met with the 
archbishop of the Twin Cities, along with some of these Dreamers, and 
we talked about how important this was to the fabric of life in our

[[Page 19715]]

community, to our economy in Minnesota--where we have one of the lowest 
unemployment rates in the country--to the Dreamers, and to their 
communities, themselves.
  The Dreamers were brought to our country as children, and they know 
only one home. That is the United States of America. The average 
Dreamer has called this country home since he was about 6\1/2\ years 
old. That is the average. Dreamers serve in our military; they pay 
taxes; and they contribute to communities across our country. More than 
97 percent of Dreamers are now in school or in the workforce--97 
percent--and all DACA recipients are required to meet the program's 
education requirements. In fact, 72 percent of all DACA recipients who 
are currently in school are pursuing bachelor's degrees or higher. 
According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, more than 
100 students with DACA status applied to medical school last year. This 
is at a time when we have a shortage of doctors in my State, 
particularly in the rural areas.
  The administration's decision to end DACA has created tremendous 
uncertainty and the risk of deportation for the Dreamers who work and 
study in the States across our Nation. It, simply, doesn't make 
economic sense. One recent study estimated that ending this policy 
would cost the country over $400 billion over the next 10 years.
  I would like to point out to my colleagues that for immigrants as a 
whole, 25 percent of our U.S. Nobel laureates were born in other 
countries and that 70 of our Fortune 500 companies are headed up by 
immigrants. Why would we cut off this talent flow? Look at these DACA 
recipients. Ninety-seven percent of the Dreamers are working or are in 
school.
  That is why I strongly disagree with the President's decision to end 
DACA, as do many Republicans, Democrats, business, labor, and religious 
leaders, and it is why I support the bipartisan Durbin-Graham Dream 
Act. America is truly a country built by immigrants, but just as 
importantly, these immigrants and their families have helped America 
succeed. They have been part of our Nation's greatest achievements.
  I look at my own family.
  On my dad's side, my great-grandparents came from Slovenia. My great-
grandfather worked in the mine, and my grandpa worked in the mine 
because they needed people to mine iron ore in order to make all of the 
armaments and all of the ships that helped us to win World War II. That 
happened. They were so proud of what they had done to contribute to our 
country's efforts.
  On my mom's side, my actual grandparents, who were Swiss, came to 
this country--my grandma as a 3-year-old, to Wisconsin, with her 
parents.
  My grandpa, when he was about 18 years old, came over. He found out 
that there was a limit on Swiss immigrants. He somehow got through 
Canada and then got through to Wisconsin. He met my grandma and had my 
mom and her brother, my Uncle Dick, and, at some point, decided that he 
would try to change his status from ``alien'' to ``legal immigrant.'' 
That was when the Congress had just passed the Alien Registration Act. 
Because World War II was before us, he had to register. That went 
smoothly, so he decided to apply for citizenship. That was when they 
discovered that he had entered the country twice--once when he had said 
that he was going to Canada, on Ellis Island--but he went to Canada 
only for a week--and the second time when he had gotten through to 
Wisconsin.
  I don't know what would have happened to my grandpa now. Back then, 
he went through the immigration hearing; he got his status. There is a 
picture of him in his bow tie--in an old black and white--and he is 
smiling. He was much older than when he had come to our country and 
become a citizen. I don't know what would have happened, because what 
he had done wasn't really legal.
  Back then, they said: Do you know what? We want you in our country. 
You are a worker. You have raised two kids. You live in Milwaukee. We 
want you to be a citizen. They gave him that citizenship just a few 
weeks before the United States entered World War II. Otherwise, I guess 
he would have been deported to Switzerland right in the middle of the 
war.
  That is my story, and everyone has an immigrant story.
  The Senate-passed bill, when we did comprehensive reform--and I was 
one of the people very involved in that on the Judiciary Committee--
included a version of the DREAM Act, which would have created a path to 
citizenship for those eligible for DACA who had graduated from high 
school and gone on to complete higher education or to serve in the 
military. We must end this uncertainty for Dreamers. That is why I have 
joined with so many of my colleagues in calling on Leader McConnell to 
hold a vote.
  Here is a Dreamer whom I will never forget. I was trying to find 
examples for people in my State so that they may understand what this 
``Dreamer'' term is all about, and I found one a few years ago--Joseph 
Medina. At the time, he was 99 years old, and he was a decorated Army 
veteran. We lost him only last month at age 103. He told me his story 
back when he was 99.
  He was brought to our country from Mexico when he was 5 years old. He 
had no idea that he was not born in our country. He grew up in Sleepy 
Eye, MN. Then he signed up to serve in World War II. That was when they 
had found out that he was, in fact, undocumented and had not been born 
in our country. Back then, as he had described it to me, the military 
had wanted people to serve, so they had him go to Canada. At the 
direction of our military, he went to Canada for 1 night, stayed--his 
words--in a nice hotel and then came back to Minnesota, and--magic--he 
was legal. He served under General MacArthur in the Pacific. He then 
came back to the United States, met his wife, got married, and had 
kids. His son served in the Vietnam war.
  I had the privilege of hosting him at the World War II Memorial, 
which he had never seen before--with his son, who is a Vietnam vet--so 
that he could see the memorial for the first and the last time. With us 
were two Dreamers from high schools in the suburban Twin Cities area 
who wanted to serve in the Air Force but couldn't because we don't have 
the same rules we had during World War II. It was, basically, because 
of their statuses that they couldn't serve.
  We lost Joseph Medina--the advocate that he was not only in words but 
by example--just last month. I think of his service, and when I see him 
standing in front of that memorial with those two Dreamers who weren't 
themselves allowed to serve, it really hits home to me and to everyone 
who has heard his story as to what these Dreamers are all about.
  We all have our stories, and we owe it to these Dreamers and we owe 
it to our country and the values of our country to stand up for these 
Dreamers. I stand with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who 
have spoken out in support of the Dream Act and who agree that we must 
take action in the Senate to protect these Dreamers in the name of 
Joseph Medina and in the name of all of our relatives who have always 
come from somewhere. Let's get this done.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. 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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