Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 --Motion to Proceed--

Floor Speech

DEVELOPMENT, RELIEF, AND EDUCATION FOR ALIEN MINORS ACT OF 2007--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - October 24, 2007)

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Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I wish to commend Senator Durbin and Senators HATCH, LUGAR, HAGEL, and MENENDEZ for their commitment to this bill. This legislation would allow young people who have grown up in the United States a chance at stability, and a chance to achieve the American dream by attending college or serving in our military.

I do not believe it is the American way to punish young people for the mistakes of their parents. When these young people have the opportunity to reach their potential by service in our Armed Forces or through higher education, we all win. Opening the door to opportunity, not squandering the potential of young people, is part of what America is all about.

So let us take a first step toward sensible immigration policy and move beyond the rhetoric and give these people a chance of fulfilling the American dream.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an editorial appearing in today's New York Times.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
[From the New York Times, Oct. 24, 2007]

A Chance To Dream

The Senate has a chance today to pluck a small gem from the ashes of the immigration debate. A critical procedural vote is scheduled on the Dream Act, a bill to open opportunities for college and military service to the children of undocumented immigrants.

Roughly 65,000 children graduate each year from high school into a constrained future because they cannot work legally or qualify for most college aid. These are the overlooked bystanders to the ferocious bickering over immigration. They did not ask to be brought here, have worked hard in school and could, given the chance, hone their talents and become members of the homegrown, high-skilled American work force.

The bill is one of the least controversial immigration proposals that have been offered in the last five years. But that doesn't mean much. Like everything else not directly involving border barricades and punishment, it has been branded as ``amnesty,'' and has languished.

But this bill is different, starting with its broad, bipartisan support, from its original sponsor, the Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, to its current champion, Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. Repeated defeats have forced Mr. Durbin to pare away at the bill's ambitions. It focuses now on a narrow sliver of a worthy group: children who entered the country before age 16, lived here continuously for at least five years and can show good moral character and a high school diploma. They would receive conditional legal status for six years, during which they could work, go to college and serve in the military. If they completed at least two years of college or military service, they would be eligible for legalization.

These young people--their numbers are estimated at anywhere from a million to fewer than 100,000--are in many ways fully American, but their immigration status puts a lock on their potential right after high school. They face the prospect of living in the shadows as their parents do, fearing deportation to countries they do not know, yearning to educate themselves in a country that ignores their aspirations.

The Dream Act rejects that unacceptable waste of young talent. The opportunity is there, provided the votes are there in the Senate.

Mr. LEAHY. I yield the floor, and I yield the remainder of my time to Senator Durbin.

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