American Dream and Promise Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and once again, I salute him for his leadership.

This is the third bill in 2 days that he has brought to the floor, yesterday for the ERA and Violence Against Women Act, and today, here we are with this legislation for the Dreamers.

Madam Speaker, this issue is near and dear to my heart but, more importantly, to my head. This is so important for our country.

Three years ago, I came to the floor and spoke about our Dreamers for 8 hours and 6 minutes. Have no fear, I will not use my Speaker's minute to that extent today. But I wish I could because I have so much to say about what Dreamers mean to America.

I rise with tremendous pride, joy, and hope this day as the House prepares to take this momentous step forward for our democracy by passing H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act.

I want to salute some of our leaders in Congress. As I acknowledged Mr. Nadler, the distinguished chair of the committee, let us also acknowledge Lucille Roybal-Allard, the godmother of this legislation, who carries forth a commitment to the newcomers to our country in her DNA, the same commitment of her father, the late Chairman Ed Roybal, as he championed newcomers to our Nation.

She has been with this legislation for 20 years that I know of, and it was she and Howard Berman who introduced it initially a generation ago. Ten years ago, she authored this legislation, and we were successful on the floor. We were successful in passing it in the House because of the leadership of Congresswoman Roybal-Allard but also Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, who at the time was the chair of the Hispanic Caucus. The Hispanic Caucus really led the way and taught the Congress about what Dreamers mean to America, in case that had not been within the experience of our Members.

In this legislation today, Nydia Velazquez has the ``promise.'' This is Dreamers and promise. She has the promise, TPS and DED--again, very important to our country.

Yvette Clarke, from the Congressional Black Caucus, who is very much a part of all of this today, has the TPS piece of this.

I was so pleased to hear this morning CAPAC, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, have Congresswoman Strickland, of African- American and Korean descent, speak in terms of what this means to the Asian Pacific American community, something that Chair Judy Chu reminds us of every day.

This has now gone beyond the Hispanic Caucus, the Black Caucus, the Asian Pacific Caucus, and to all of us in the Congress. This legislation is protecting Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients and honors the truth that immigrants are the constant reinvigoration of our country. When they come here with their hopes and dreams and aspirations, these parents bringing their children, their hopes and dreams and aspirations for a better future for their children, that courage, that determination, those aspirations are American traits. They all make America more American with all of that.

Indeed, they are true and legitimate heirs, these Dreamers are, of our Founders. E pluribus unum, from many, one, we talk about that all the time. Many in this Chamber have been part of the fight to protect our patriotic Dreamers for years.

As I said, when I stood here for 8 hours and 6 minutes, the longest speech on record in the House in history, I was reading letters that Members were handing me about the story of the Dreamers. As Mr. Stanton mentioned, they are teachers, professionals, CEOs, entrepreneurs. They contribute to our community in every way. I was so pleased to hear him talk about that because one of the first meetings I ever went to about Dreamers was under the leadership of one of the predecessors of our Members from Arizona, Congressman Ed Pastor. Chairman Pastor, Mr. Grijalva, and Harry Mitchell, all three, had a meeting at Arizona State University about helping these young people. That was in 2007.

So, this has been going on for a while. Next month, as I mentioned, marks the 20th year since the Dream Act was introduced by Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, and it was on a bipartisan basis. When we passed it 10 years ago, it was on a bipartisan basis. Sadly, we couldn't prevail with 60 votes in the Senate. But since then, millions of Americans have come together to organize and mobilize for Dreamers: labor leaders, the business community, faith organizations, national security officials, law enforcement, and more.

We often talk about Dreamers having the support of the three Bs: badges, in terms of law enforcement; Bible, in terms of faith-based; and the business community.

The true VIPs of the moment are the Dreamers and immigrants who have spoken out with great dignity and eloquence, refusing to be forced back into the shadows.

This determination has made a difference. It is their courage that is sending this legislation to the Senate and then to the President's desk.

Before I close, I want to acknowledge the work of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, the chair of the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. Zoe Lofgren is also the chair of House Administration, so I call her Madam Chair-Madam Chair. She has taught immigration law. She has been an immigration lawyer, and she chairs the Immigration Subcommittee. We could not be better served than by her intricate knowledge of immigration law, both on this legislation and legislation we will take up later, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. I thank Zoe Lofgren for that.

Again, Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients are American in every way. They have lived and worked in our country for decades, if not their entire lives. They are an integral thread in the fabric of our Nation. For the Dreamers, it is less time, for others more.

Dreamers power our businesses, our economy, and are CEOs and taxpayers, all of them. They advance innovation and America's technological edge as entrepreneurs and researchers. They protect our national security, military might, and servicemembers and civilian experts.

That is why I am so grateful to Chair Roybal-Allard, Chair Velazquez, Chair Judy Chu, and Congresswoman Strickland for advancing this legislation to help Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients.

So many on the front lines of the pandemic are frontline healthcare workers and first responders; transportation, sanitation, and food workers; and teachers. They give so much to our country.

These immigrant communities strengthen, enrich, and ennoble our Nation, and they must be allowed to stay. There is nothing partisan about protecting Dreamers and TPS and DED recipients.

The Dream Act has long had bipartisan support in both Chambers. Support for TPS and DED recipients is also bipartisan in the country. Nearly three-quarters of the public support a path to citizenship.

I always love to quote President Reagan. In his last speech as President of the United States, this was his last message as President to the American people. He said: ``Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we are a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.''

I urge a bipartisan vote.

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