On the recordSeptember 21, 2010
They reach legal status. They have to make application to go beyond it. In this situation, young people, undocumented in the United States, who want to voluntarily serve in our military, cannot do so. They are willing to risk their lives for America. Yet we say no. The Secretary of Defense knows that is wrong. This morning, in a conversation I had with him in my office over the telephone, he reiterated what he had said to me before: These are the kind of young people we need in America's military--high school graduates from cultural traditions that respect the military; people who are going to make more diversity in our ranks. That is what we need. He knows, from a national defense perspective, these will be good recruits for our military and will distinguish themselves serving our country and coming up through the ranks. That is what the DREAM Act offered to the Defense authorization bill. The Republican leadership and every Republican Senator said no.
