On the recordDecember 9, 2010
I come to the floor to strongly urge my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to oppose cloture on the so-called DREAM Act. The reasons we should oppose cloture are simple and basic. They all go to this past election. They all ask the question: Have we been listening at all to the American people? The American people have been speaking loudly and clearly on issues that pertain to the DREAM Act. I point to three in particular. No. 1, the DREAM Act is a major amnesty provision. There are no two ways about it. It grants at least 2.1 million illegals amnesty. It puts them on a path toward citizenship, which will also allow them to have their family members put in legal status. That means when we count all those people, there are probably two to three times that initial 2.1 million people who will be granted some form of amnesty. When we are not securing our borders adequately, when we are not putting a system in place to enforce workplace security, that is absolutely wrong.
