National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, just a short time ago, the Senator from Arizona, my colleague, Senator John McCain, came to the floor and made an issue about the way we are proceeding on the Defense authorization bill. Senator McCain, who is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, with Chairman CARL LEVIN, objected to several amendments which will be considered under this bill. One in particular is an amendment, a bill which I first introduced in its earliest form in the Senate almost 10 years ago. It is known as the DREAM Act.

The DREAM Act is a legislative effort to solve a serious problem, and the problem is this: There are many young people who were brought to America by their undocumented parents. They came at the age of a few months old, 2 years, 3 years, 10 years of age, 12 years of age. There was no family vote on whether they were coming to America; they were packed up and brought. Some came over legally and then became illegal because their visas were not extended. Some entered the country illegally. In every instance, these were children who were brought with their parents.

These children have grown up in America. They have gone to our schools. They have participated in community activities. They have now reached an age where they are finishing high school, many of them, and they believe they are Americans. It may be the only language they speak, the language of America, and they do not know of another country that they were told by their parents they once lived in.

What is to happen with these children? Under the laws of America, they are here illegally. The simple, direct answer is, they should be deported. But we know that justice calls out for a different approach, a better and fairer approach. To hold children responsible or culpable for any wrongdoing by their parents is something we do not do in any area of the law.

If I am arrested speeding down the interstate and have my grandson in the backseat, they are not going to arrest him for speeding. They will charge me with a crime, but they will not charge him. In this instance, the children in the backseat on this ride to America are being held as criminals.

They have virtually no future, no status, no country, and it is a desperate situation for many of them. Some of them are the best and brightest kids in America. They are the valedictorians of the class, the class presidents, they are the kids who get admitted to the good colleges and universities and want a good life in this country.

But they are stopped everywhere they turn. They cannot qualify for any Federal aid for education because they are not citizens and not here legally. They certainly cannot even enlist in the military, if they chose to, because under our laws, undocumented cannot enlist.

So what is to become of them? I introduced the DREAM Act to say let's at least give them a chance. Here is what the DREAM Act says: If you came to America under the age of 15, if you have been here 5 years, graduate from high school, no criminal record of serious offenses, good moral character, and you go on, in the next 6 years of your life after high school to enlist in our military or to complete 2 years of college, we will give you a chance. We will give you a chance.

Six years after high school, we will give you a chance to petition our government for legal status in America. That is it. What I have been told by many is that this is not only a good and just option for a lot of very young and talented people, but it also has other positive benefits.

Yesterday in my office was a young man named Eric Balderas. I brought his picture to the floor the other day. I met him for the first time yesterday. Eric Balderas is a sophomore at Harvard University. He was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. His mother and father were illegal immigrants to the United States.

He grew up in San Antonio and was accepted at Harvard University. That says a lot. After he was there for a short period of time, he decided he liked science. It turned out he was pretty good at it. As a sophomore, he has set his goal now. He wants to be a cancer researcher. He wants to stay the course, finish his masters, and even go on to an advanced degree so he can do research to find a cure for cancer.

Can we afford to let Eric go? Can we afford as a nation to send him back to Mexico, a place which he knows of but does not count as his home? Can we afford to turn our back on him? I do not think so. I think this is a valuable asset for the future of America. Eric's life should not be wasted. It should be invested in our future.

But there is also an option under the DREAM Act beyond the completion of 2 years of college for those who would enlist in our armed services. Senator McCain came to the floor and he has traditionally supported the DREAM Act. But he raised a question as to whether it had a place in the Defense authorization bill.

I would urge my colleague from Arizona to consider the obvious. The Defense authorization bill is an appropriate vehicle for the DREAM Act because tens of thousands of highly qualified, well-educated young people would enlist in the Armed Forces if the DREAM Act becomes law.

The Army says high school graduation is the best single predictor of sticktoitiveness, the kind that is required to succeed in the military. That is required in the DREAM Act. You must graduate high school before you can qualify.

In recent years, the Army has been forced to accept more applicants who are high school dropouts, have low scores on military aptitude tests, and even some with criminal backgrounds to meet recruiting quotas. In contrast, now, the DREAM Act recruits would be well-qualified high school graduates of good moral character.

Many DREAM Act beneficiaries come from a community that is predisposed toward military service. The RAND Corporation found that Hispanic youth are more likely than other groups to express a positive attitude toward the military, and Hispanics consistently have higher retention and faster promotion speeds than their White counterparts. The Defense Department, in its fiscal year 2010-2012 strategic plan included the DREAM Act as a means of meeting the strategic goal of shaping and maintaining a mission-ready, all-volunteer force.

In 2007, Bill Carr, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, said the DREAM Act is ``very appealing,'' in his words, because it would apply to the cream of the crop of students and be good for readiness.

In 2006, then-Secretary of Defense David Chu, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: There are an estimated 50 to 65,000 undocumented alien young adults who entered the United States at an early age and graduate from high school every year. Many of these young people may wish to join the military and have the attributes needed: education, aptitude, fitness, and moral qualifications. The DREAM Act would provide these young people the opportunity of serving the United States in uniform.

This was said by the Under Secretary of Defense under President Bush. It is bipartisan and it should be. Military experts also support the DREAM Act. LTC Margaret Stock, professor at West Point, said: Passage of the DREAM Act would be highly beneficial to the U.S. military. The DREAM Act promises to enlarge dramatically the pool of highly qualified recruits for the U.S. Armed Forces.

The DREAM Act includes many important restrictions to prevent abuse. DREAM Act students would not be eligible for Pell grants and would be subject to tough criminal penalties for fraud and would have limited ability to sponsor any family members for legal status. The DREAM Act has broad bipartisan support, 40 cosponsors. In the 110th Congress it received 52 votes, a majority of the Senate, which under most circumstances is a winning vote, but in the Senate we require 60 for controversial issues which many Republicans might oppose.

In this case, though, with 52 votes, 11 Republicans joined us in voting yes. According to a recent poll by Opinion Research Corporation, 70 percent of likely voters favor the DREAM Act, including 60 percent of the Republicans.

I say this to Senator McCain. I understand his point about amendments to the Defense authorization bill. I will not get into that particular point. I mean, he can argue that out with Senator Levin and Senator Reid and they can come to the best conclusion. They tend to work together pretty well under normal circumstances. But to argue the DREAM Act has nothing to do with the defense of this country is to overlook the obvious, a point that has been made repeatedly by the leaders in the Pentagon and Department of Defense; that to give these young people a chance to volunteer to serve our Nation and to risk their lives for our safety and security is good for the military and gives them a chance for a life--a chance for a life.

How can we do this to these kids who came to this country with their parents and who know no other nation? One of these young students said to me along the way: Senator, I dream in English. That is something we ought to remember. For these children, America is the only home they have ever known, the only home they ever want to know.

All they are asking for is a chance. There is a larger issue about comprehensive immigration reform. We need it. I support it. I have worked with Senator McCain on it in years gone by, and we need to return to it. But for this particular group of young people in America, I beg my colleagues, give them a chance. Give these young people a chance.

They are counting on us, counting on us to come through. I do wish to say that this DREAM Act is going to be considered, I hope, next week. If we are successful on the motion to proceed, then we will move forward from there and probably debate it next week. We will need Republican support to pass it, and there should be. It should be a bipartisan bill. In the past, many Republicans have stepped up, understanding this is the right thing to do.

When I speak to some of my Republican colleagues today, there are myriad explanations of why they are not going to vote for it or may not vote for it: Oh, we need comprehensive reform. Maybe this is not the right bill to consider it on. After 10 years, I want to tell you, I do not know how I can continue to face these young people. I do not know how many any of my colleagues can without an effort, without trying.

I urge all my colleagues, over the weekend as they consider this important and historic vote, try to reach out and meet some of these young people. They will make converts of you in an instant. They are the future of America. They are going to be our military leaders and our engineers and our doctors, our lawyers and our accountants, even our Senators and our Congressmen. Giving them a chance to give back to this country is not too much to ask.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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