Dean Phillips: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this bill is long overdue in the U.S. and in my State of Minnesota. In…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this bill is long overdue in the U.S. and in my State of Minnesota. In Minnesota we are home to a thriving community of Liberian refugees who fled two civil wars and an Ebola outbreak, refugees like my good friend, Louise Stevens. She escaped civil war, left her life behind, and slept on a friend's floor for over a year just for the chance at the American Dream. Now she is over 60. She has worked hard in Minnesota's healthcare industry for 18 years. She is the mother of American children. She pays taxes, and she is here legally under DED. But because of that DED status, she still has no path to citizenship. The same is true for thousands of Liberians in America. I am so proud to help lead the Dream and Promise Act and finally, at long last, change that. That is the American Dream and, at long last, it should be our reality.”