Political Quotes

On the recordDecember 15, 2010
Madam President, last night I was on a conference call. It was an unusual one. There were 8,000 people on this conference call. I have never been on a conference call like that. They were from all across the United States of America. We spoke for a few minutes and then took questions. A young woman came on. She didn't give her name but she said, I want to tell you who I am. I am a person who is about to graduate from a major university in California with a degree in pharmacy and I have nowhere to go. You see, she is a Hispanic who came to the United States at an early age, brought here by her parents. She defied the odds by finishing high school. Half of the Hispanic students do not. She did. Then she defied the odds even more by going to college. Only one in twenty in her status actually attends college in America. Then she stuck around for 5 years-plus to get her degree in pharmacy science. We know for a fact we need pharmacists desperately across America, everywhere, in North Carolina and New Mexico and Illinois--we need pharmacists. Why aren't we using the talent of this ambitious, energetic, successful, young woman? Because she has no country. She is in America but she is not an American. She has no status. The DREAM Act, which I introduced 10 years ago, addresses this challenge across America.…
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Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

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