Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, first let me thank Senator Graham, Senator McCain, Senator Rubio, Senator Flake, and on our side Senator Schumer, Senator Menendez, and my friend Senator Bennet. The eight of us came together to create a bill, and in the end we did a lot more--we created a bond of friendship and trust and a life experience that none of us will ever forget.

Each of us brought our special pleadings to this negotiation. I argued for the protection of refugees, American workers, access to immigration courts and counsel, reforming the flawed H-1B program, a path to citizenship that was a challenge but fair. But my colleagues knew from the start that there was one issue that was more important to me than any other.

It was 12 years ago when I first introduced the DREAM Act. I did it for this young woman, Tereza Lee. They were about to deport her from Chicago back to Korea. She was 18 years old. She didn't know any other country but the United States. She had been accepted at the Manhattan conservatory of music. She was an outstanding pianist. And she was about to be deported. I thought that was wrong. I introduced the DREAM Act to help her, and it turns out, hundreds of thousands just like her.

Incidentally, this story ends well. She finished her education, and she is now working on a Ph.D. in music. She played in Carnegie Hall. She married an American, and she is a citizen. Would America have been a better place if Tereza Lee had been deported? Of course not.

Over the years the plight of Tereza Lee and this bill, the DREAM Act, became a cause--a national campaign. In the beginning teenagers used to come up to me in Chicago, filled with emotion, in the dark of night, and meet me at my car with tears in their eyes and say: I am a DREAMer. Can you help me? Over time, their numbers grew, and so did their courage. They stood up, as they have so many times and in so many places, and said: I am willing to fight to be part of America's future. It wasn't easy for them.

A few years ago I had a press conference right here in the Capitol. I invited the DREAMers to tell their stories. A hate-filled Congressman from Colorado called the immigration authorities and said: Arrest those kids. Well, they were not arrested. They left that press conference even more determined to see the DREAM Act become a reality.

Time and again we called the bill on the Senate floor and it failed. We couldn't break the filibuster. Two and a half years ago the galleries were filled with DREAMers in caps and gowns. We called the bill for a vote, and we lost. We had 55 votes, and we couldn't break the filibuster.

One of the saddest meetings I ever had took place afterwards. I went downstairs and met with these DREAMers after the bill failed.

Their heads were down and they were crying and they said: What can we do?

I said to them: I am never giving up on you. Don't give up on me.

Well, today I have a message for Gaby, Tolu, and all the DREAMers in the galleries here and all around the country: Your courage inspired us, your determination kept us going, and your faith in the only country you have ever called home has been rewarded. This bill before us has the strongest DREAM Act ever written.

I listened to my colleagues come to the floor and speak about immigration. Those of us who support this bill haven't talked a lot about the details of the bill. We have talked about what this means to us in our personal lives and what immigration means to America. So in full disclosure I have to tell everyone that the first DREAMer in my life was brought to America at the age of 2. She was the child of Lithuanian immigrants, and she grew up in poverty but was determined to become a citizen. Her dream came true when she was naturalized at the age of 24. That was my mother, and I dedicate this vote today to her memory.

For anyone in this Chamber who believes this is just another vote, go to a naturalization ceremony. Watch those new citizens with those flags in their hands as they take that oath to be part of this country. One cannot help but feel the emotion that courses through them at that moment.

Let me say a final word about the Senate. I am proud to represent the great State of Illinois, and I am proud to be one of the 1,947 Americans who have ever had this honor--to stand on the floor as a Member of the U.S. Senate. We were elected to make this Nation better.

The eight of us came together across the aisle. We cussed one another, we cheered one another, and we wrote a bill together. Now, to my fellow colleagues in the Senate, it is your turn. Reach across the aisle and show the American people that this Senate can still rise to the challenge. Show this skeptical Nation that their faith in our Founding Fathers will be honored by our generation of Senators.

I yield the floor.

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