On the recordSeptember 20, 2011
it was 10 years ago when I introduced the DREAM Act. It is an important piece of legislation for thousands of people who are living in America who are literally without status, without a country. The DREAM Act says, if one came to the United States as a child, if they are a long-term U.S. resident, if they have good moral character, if they have graduated from high school and they are prepared to complete 2 years of college or enlist in our military, we will give them a chance to be legal in America. That is what it says. The young people who are affected by it are many times people who have never known another country in their lives. They got up at school, as Senator Menendez has said so artfully, they pledged allegiance to the only flag they have ever known. They sing the only national anthem they have ever known. They speak English and want a future in America. Yet they have no country. Because their parents brought them to this country as children, because their parents did not file the necessary papers, they are without a country and without a future. The DREAM Act gives them a chance--a chance to excel and prove they can make this a better nation. The Obama administration recently made an announcement that I think is not only the right thing to do but paves the way for us to give these young people a chance.…





