Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, tomorrow, we are going to have two important votes. I would go so far as to say they are historic. In the history of the United States of America, I do not know how many people have lived in this great Nation. Today there are more than 300 million.

But if you added up all of those who lived in this great Nation since we became a nation, the number would probably be in the billions. In that period of time, only 2,000 men and women have had the honor of being U.S. Senators. It is a humbling statistic, for you, for me, for all of us, to think that we join with so few of our own fellow citizens who have this great opportunity and responsibility.

In the desk drawers around the Senate are the names of the Senators who have served. Some of them are amazing: Daniel Webster, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Mike Mansfield--the list goes on. But there are also many names that have faded into obscurity. You pull open the desk drawer and say: I do not recognize that name. I wonder who that was? One of two thousand I am going to presume served their State and Nation well but left no indelible mark on history. They did their job. That says something for each and every one of them who served here.

But precious few of those 2,000 had a moment in history to do something historic. When we look back in the course of our history, there were opportunities to vote on whether to go to war, to vote on a constitutional amendment, to approve a Supreme Court Justice. All of these things rank in the highest order of the business of the Senate.

But I would say at that top level is the opportunity to vote to extend civil rights and human rights in our Nation, the opportunity to vote for justice. Those are the stories that are told and retold.

The civil rights battles of the 1960s that you and I can vaguely remember from our youth; the giants of the Senate who, when it looked hopeless on the issue of civil rights, found a way. I worked for a man named Paul Douglas who was an extraordinary man and dedicated his life to civil rights. It turned out that his stalwart support made a difference. But what made the real difference was the other Senator from Illinois, Everett McKinley Dirksen, a conservative Republican, who decided he was finally going to pitch in and help to pass civil rights legislation. He is remembered for that. He once said something which may be politically incorrect now. But describing his transition on the issue of civil rights, he said: There is nothing more pregnant than an idea whose time has come.

In his mind, the idea of civil rights had come. When we look back at the Senate of those days and the votes that were cast, for many of the Senators casting those votes, they were painful, difficult votes. The idea of integrating America beyond the Armed Forces, beyond schools, into every aspect of our life was controversial in many parts of our Nation.

It was controversial in the Land of Lincoln, my Home State of Illinois. But the Congressmen and Senators of that day mustered the courage to do it, and they are remembered for that courage. Some of them are exalted for that courage because they did it in the face of opposition, vocal opposition to what they were about. We will have an opportunity tomorrow to vote on what looks like two pedestrian procedural motions, but they are much more. One of them is to eliminate a discriminatory policy in our Armed Services known as don't ask, don't tell. It will be a chance for Members of the Senate to go on record about whether they believe we should move beyond the practices of the past; whether they believe we should acknowledge that people of different sexual orientation can play a valuable role in protecting America. It is a historic vote. I am glad we are going to have it.

Before that vote is another. It is called the DREAM Act. This is a piece of legislation which I have been working on for 10 years. Whenever I am discouraged about how long it has taken, I think of how long these other battles have taken; how many decades it took to bring us to the civil rights vote; how long it took for women to get a right to vote in America; how long it took for the disabled to finally be recognized in America, thanks to the amazing bipartisan leadership of Bob Dole and Tom Harkin in the Senate.

Whenever I feel discouraged that I have been at this for 10 years and still do not have it, I think of those battles, and say to myself: Durbin, as a student of history, even an amateur student of history, be patient because some of these things take a long time, but they are worth the effort and worth the wait.

The good news is that the House of Representatives did something historic last week. They passed the DREAM Act. I cannot thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi, majority leader Steny Hoyer, Howard Berman, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and my colleague, Luis Gutierrez of Chicago, enough. What an extraordinary job they did in passing that legislation. It was not easy. The President of the United States, Barrack Obama, who had cosponsored the DREAM Act as a Senator, was on the phone asking Democrats and Republicans to join in this effort to move toward justice.

They passed it by a vote of 216 to 198. It was bipartisan legislation, and it would give a select group of immigrant students who grew up in this country the chance to become legal. I will tell you it would not be easy if this becomes law for them to make that journey from where they are today to legal status.

But last week, the Senate decided that we would accept this challenge as well. After the House passed this bill, our majority leader, Harry Reid, who has been just an amazing ally and friend in this effort, came to the floor and said: We were pursuing another version of this bill to make the point of our commitment to it, but we are pulling that version from the calendar. We are going to vote on the bill that passed the House of Representatives. This will not be a symbolic debate. This debate is for real. If we can pass the bill passed by the House of Representatives, we can send it to the President and make it the law of the land. It will be a real act, not a symbolic, political act.

I thank my colleague for saying that and doing that. The DREAM Act has enjoyed bipartisan and majority support in the Senate virtually every time it has been called. The last time the Senate considered the DREAM Act, it received 52 votes, including 12 Republican votes.

When Republicans last controlled the Senate, the DREAM Act was reported by the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 16 to 3. This has been a strong, bipartisan issue. If some of the Republicans are willing to join us in the Senate, as

eight Republicans did in the House, we can make the DREAM Act the law of the land.

This is simply a matter of justice. Let me tell you the story behind the DREAM Act. I have said it before, but I think it is an indication of why it is worth it to pick up the phone and call your Senator or your Congressman, or to send that e-mail or letter, or to perhaps draw them to the side at a public event and tell them your story or your concern.

The story of the DREAM Act goes back more than 10 years ago, when a woman, a Korean woman in Chicago, called our office. She was a single mom with three kids. She ran a dry cleaning establishment. She had just an amazing young daughter. Her daughter was an accomplished concert pianist at the age of 18. Her daughter had been accepted at the Julliard School of Music in New York. Her mom was beaming with pride as her daughter started to fill out the application form.

At a point where it said: Nationality or citizenship, the daughter turned to the mom and said: What should I put here?

Her mom said: I do not know. You see, we brought you to the United States when you were 2 years old and we never filed any papers for you. So I do not know what to put there.

The girl said: What are we going to do?

The mom said: We are going to call DURBIN.

They called my office. And one of my staffers responded and looked into the law. The law was clear. This 18-year-old girl who had lived in the United States for 16 years, under the law of the United States, was not a citizen and had no legal status in this country whatsoever, and the law said she had to go back to Korea, a place she could never remember, with a language she could barely speak, to live her life.

I thought that was fundamentally unjust. If you want to penalize the mother failing to file papers, that is one thing. But to penalize a girl, who at the age of 2, had no voice in this decision for the rest of her life strikes me as unfair and unjust. So I wrote up the DREAM Act. I went to the Senate Judiciary Committee and found an ally in Senator ORRIN HATCH of Utah.

In fact, it was interesting--I am sure the Presiding Officer will appreciate this--we had a little tussle about who was going to put their name first on this. The first version was Hatch-Durbin. That was OK. I was not as interested in having my name first as getting this passed.

Well, over the years, there have been versions of this bill that have been introduced and considered over the last 10 years. But, sadly, it has not been enacted into law.

The DREAM Act is the right thing to do. It will make America a stronger country. It would strengthen our national security by saying to thousands of young people like that young Korean girl, thousands of highly qualified young people, that they can have a chance to enlist in our Armed Forces and work their way to legal status.

The Defense Department Strategic Plan says the Dream Act would help ``shape and maintain a mission-ready All-Volunteer Force.''

That is why the DREAM Act has the support of national security leaders such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and GEN Colin Powell. Here is what Secretary Gates says:

There is a rich precedent supporting the service of noncitizens in the U.S. military. The DREAM Act represents an opportunity to expand this pool to the advantage of military recruiting and readiness.

The DREAM Act also would stimulate our economy. It gives these talented young immigrants the chance to become tomorrow's engineers and doctors and lawyers and teachers and entrepreneurs.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said: Make no mistake. Engaging these young people and challenging them to serve in the military or to finish at least 2 years of college is going to make them productive citizens and add to the bounty of the United States as they take on big jobs and earn their paychecks and build their homes and families. They concluded the DREAM Act would produce $2.2 billion in net revenues over 10 years.

A recent UCLA study found the DREAM Act students would contribute between $1.4 and $3.6 trillion to the U.S. economy during their working lives. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a person I admire from New York City. He supports the DREAM Act. He stated succinctly:

These are just the kind of immigrants we need to help solve our problems. Some of them will go on to create new small businesses and hire people. It is senseless for us to chase out the home-grown talent that has the potential to contribute so significantly to our country.

Senator Sessions of Alabama has left the floor. He did not speak this evening on the DREAM Act, but he has been to the floor many times. He opposes it. JEFF SESSIONS and I are friends. We are on the Judiciary Committee. We do agree from time to time, and we have had some pretty important legislation cosponsored by the two of us.

On this issue we disagree. I have carefully followed his complaints or items that he has brought up on the floor that he thinks are weak in this bill. Last week he said on the floor that the DREAM Act is ``a nearly unrestricted amnesty, a guaranteed path to citizenship.''

I appreciate Senator Sessions's passion. He has been a strong opponent of the DREAM Act since it was first introduced. With all due respect, that is not what the bill says. Only a select group of students would be able to earn legal status under this legislation.

In fact, according to a recent study by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, only 38 percent of those who were potentially eligible for the DREAM Act would ultimately become legal.

Think about this. About 40 to 50 percent of Hispanic students today drop out of high school.

Fewer than 5 percent of undocumented students go on to college. You can't make it under the DREAM Act unless you graduate from high school, so already about 50 percent of those who are Hispanic are unlikely to qualify. Then only 1 out of 20 enroll in college. And that number may increase. But look at the number it starts with, a small fraction of the Hispanic population. So to argue this is going to introduce opportunities for millions of others doesn't work with the numbers.

The DREAM Act would initially give qualified students a chance to earn what we call conditional nonimmigrant status, not legal permanent residence or citizenship. They can only qualify for conditional immigrant status if they prove in a court of law by a preponderance of the evidence the following: They came to the United States under the age of 15; they are under the age of 30 on the date the bill is signed into law; they have lived in the United States continuously for at least 5 years before the bill becomes law; they have good moral character as determined by the Department of Homeland Security since the date they first came to the United States; they graduated from high school or obtained a GED; and they have registered for selective service.

So the day the DREAM Act is signed into law, to be eligible you must have been in the United States for 5 years. Assume for a moment the President would sign it in a week--not likely, but possible, an answer to my prayers, but possible. That would mean that anyone who came to the United States after 2005 would be ineligible for the DREAM Act. So it is a select group.

Then we say to that select group, you have to meet the following requirements: You have to apply within 1 year of when the bill becomes law or when they obtain a high school degree or GED; they have to pay a $525 fee; they must submit biometrics information, undergo security and law enforcement background checks and medical examinations. These are all requirements to even be eligible for DREAM Act status.

They would be specifically excluded from becoming a conditional nonimmigrant under this bill if: They have a criminal background; they present a national security or terrorist threat; they have ever committed a felony or more than two misdemeanors; they are likely to become a public charge; they have engaged in voter fraud or unlawful voting; they have committed marriage fraud; abused a student visa; or pose a public health risk.

That long list of things I read is an obstacle course which many of these young people will never be able to clear. But we set it up this way intentionally.

During the course of preparing for this, one Senator received a notice that said that the DREAM Act allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all grounds of inadmissibility for illegal aliens including criminals, terrorists, and certain gang members. We had my staff call the Senator's office who put this out and ask: Where did you get that? That is not what it says. They couldn't point to any source.

We then called the Department of Homeland Security and said: All right, give us an answer. Under the DREAM Act, could you waive all these things, would terrorists and criminals have a right? Of course not. The Department of Homeland Security came back and said: No, that isn't what the law says at all.

So we are battling not only passing a bill but a lot of misinformation. That is troublesome.

It is interesting, when I call my Senate colleagues, even those who are nominally against the bill, it is interesting how many of them say the following to me: Man, Durbin, why are you doing this to us? I am rolling around in my bed at night wide awake worrying about this vote and thinking about it all the time. I was walking over to the Capitol and a couple of these young kids came up to see me. I talked to them. They were very impressive.

I say to these young people, who would be eligible under the DREAM Act or hope they would be: You are the very best messengers for what we are trying to do. When people meet you and know who you are and what your dreams are, it is hard to believe that you are a threat to the United States. You look like the hope of the United States and what you could bring to us.

Let me tell you the stories of a few of them. These stories tell you why I feel so strongly, as Senator Menendez does, about this issue and why this bill is so important.

Meet Gaby Pacheco. Gaby was brought to the United States from Ecuador at the age of 7 so she certainly had little or no voice in her parents' decision to come here. Here she is pictured in her junior ROTC class which I think is the next chart, her drill team class. She is in the back row on the far right. She was the highest ranking junior ROTC student in her high school in Miami and she received the highest score in the military aptitude test. The Air Force tried to recruit her, but she was unable to enlist because she has no legal status in the United States. Let me tell you what she has done since she couldn't enlist in the Air Force. She has earned two associate degrees in education and is currently working on her BA in special education. She has served as the president of her student government and president of Florida's Junior Community College Student Government Association. Her dream in life is to teach autistic children.

Do we need more teachers of autistic children in America? We certainly do. But she can't do that because she is undocumented.

Gaby was one of four students who walked all the way from Miami, FL to Washington, DC, 1500 miles. This wasn't a little day hike. They came here because they believe in the DREAM Act, and they wanted to let the people in Washington know how much they believed in it. Along the way these four students were joined by hundreds of supporters who came out of villages and towns and walked with them for miles to show their solidarity in this effort.

Meet Benita Veliz. Benita was brought to the United States by her parents in 1993 at the age of 8. She graduated as valedictorian of her high school class at the age of 16. She received a full scholarship to St. Mary's University in Texas. She graduated from the honors program with a double major in biology and sociology. She wrote her honors thesis about the DREAM Act. Benita sent me a letter recently, and I want to read what she said:

I can't wait to be able to give back to the community that has given me so much. I was recently asked to sing the national anthem for both the United States and Mexico at Cinco de Mayo community assembly. Without missing a beat, I quickly belted out the Star Spangled Banner. I then realized that I had no idea how to sing the Mexican national anthem. I am American. My dream is American. It is time to make our dreams a reality. It is time to pass the DREAM Act.

Benita, how can we say no?

Now meet this young man. His name is Minchul Suk. He was brought to the United States from South Korea by his parents in 1991 when he was 9 years old. He graduated from high school with a 4.2 GPA. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics. With support from the Korean-American community, he was able to graduate from dental school. He has passed the national boards and licensing exam to become a dentist, but he can't obtain a license because he is not legal. Despite coming here at the age of 9, he is not legal.

He sent me a letter recently. Here is what he wrote:

After spending the majority of my life here, with all my friends and family here, I could not simply pack my things and go to a country I barely remember. I am willing to accept whatever punishment is deemed fitting for that crime; let me just stay and pay for it. ..... I am begging for a chance to prove to everyone that I am not a waste of a human being, that I am not a criminal set on leeching off taxpayers' money. Please give me the chance to serve my community as a dentist.

In Rock Island, IL, my wonderful home State, we have a great clinic for poor people. I went and visited a couple months ago. I said: What do you need? They said: We need a dentist. These poor people don't have a dentist. Do we need dentists in America? You bet we do. We need Minchul Suk. To think when you think he says: ``I am willing to accept whatever punishment is deemed fitting for [my]

crime.'' What was his crime? Being brought to the United States at the age of 9? Graduating from UCLA with a degree in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics? Taking the boards when he knew he couldn't become a dentist? Is that a crime? I don't think so. Most Americans wouldn't see it that way.

This is Mayra Garcia. This wonderful young woman was brought to the United States at the age of 2. She is 18 now. She is president of the Cottonwood Youth Advisory Commission in her hometown of Cottonwood, AR. She is a member of the National Honor Society, and she graduated from high school last spring with a 3.98 GPA. I am sure the Presiding Officer had a better GPA, but I didn't. Mayra just started her freshman year at a prestigious university in California.

In an essay about the DREAM Act, she wrote:

From the time I was capable of understanding its significance, my dream was to be the first college graduate in my immediate and extended family. ..... College means more to me than just a four-year degree. It means the breaking of a family cycle. It means progression and fulfillment of an obligation.

Here is what she told me about growing up in the United States:

According to my mom, I cried every day in preschool because of the language barrier. By kindergarten, though, I was fluent in English. ..... English became my way of understanding the world and myself.

Mayra Garcia, like all DREAM Act students, grew up in America. America is her home. English is her language. She dreams in English about a future in this country that she won't have without the DREAM Act.

I want you to meet Eric Balderas. Eric's mom brought him to the United States from Mexico when he was 4 years old. He was valedictorian and student council president at his high school in San Antonio, TX. Eric just began his sophomore year at Harvard University. I met this young man. He came to my office. He is majoring in molecular and cellular biology. He wants to become a cancer researcher. He couldn't do it without the DREAM Act. Do we need more cancer researchers in America? You bet we do. Is there a family in America that hasn't been touched by cancer? We want his talent. We need his talent. Why would we send him away? That is what the DREAM Act is all about.

Here is another great story. These are all good, but they keep getting better. This is Cesar Vargas. This young man is amazing. He was brought to the United States by his parents when he was 5 years old. When he was in college, Cesar tried to enlist in the military after 9/11. He went into the recruiter angry that people were attacking the United States and said: Sign me up. I want to go in the Marines. They said: What is your status?

Well, I am undocumented, but I have been here since I was a little kid, and I am willing to leave college to join the Marine Corps.

They turned him away. Today he is a student at the City University of New York School of Law where he has a 3.8 GPA. He founded the Prosecutor Law Students Association at his school and did an internship with the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. He is fluent in Spanish, Italian, French, and English, and he is close to mastering Cantonese and Russian. He is a talented man. He has received lucrative offers to go to work for corporate law firms outside the United States where his citizenship status will not be an issue. But his dream is to stay in the United States and still enlist in the military as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Without the DREAM Act, Cesar has no chance to live his dream of enlisting in the United States military serving our Nation.

This is David Cho. David's parents brought him to the United States from South Korea 10 years ago, when he was 9. Since then, David has been a model American. He had a 3.9 GPA in high school and is now a senior at UCLA where he is majoring in international finance. As you can see, he is the leader of the UCLA marching band. You might see him on television at half time. David wants to serve in the Air Force. If the DREAM Act doesn't pass, he will not get that chance.

Here is another great story: Oscar Vazquez. Oscar was brought to Phoenix, AR by his parents when he was a child. He spent his high school years in junior ROTC and dreamed of enlisting in the military. Here he is in his uniform. But at the end of his junior year, a recruiting officer told Oscar that he was ineligible for military service because he was undocumented. He entered a robot competition sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Oscar and three other DREAM Act students worked for months at a storage room in their high school to try to win this contest. They were competing against students from MIT and other top universities. Oscar's team took first place. Here is Oscar today.

Last year he graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Oscar was one of only three ASU students who were honored during President Obama's commencement address.

Do we need a mechanical engineer who won a national robot competition to be part of the future of America? You bet we do. Oscar needs his chance.

The last person I will refer to here is Tam Tran. As shown in this picture, this is a lovely young woman, but a sad story. Tam was born in Germany and was brought to the United States by her parents when she was only 6 years old. Her parents are refugees who fled Vietnam as boat people at the end of the Vietnam war. They moved to Germany, and then they came to the United States to join relatives.

An immigration court ruled that Tam and her family could not be deported to Vietnam because they would be persecuted by the Communist government. And the German Government refused to accept them.

Tam literally had no place to go, no country. So she grew up here. She graduated with honors from UCLA, with a degree in American literature and culture. She was studying for a Ph.D. in American civilization at Brown University when earlier this year she was tragically killed in an automobile accident.

Three years ago, Tam was one of the first Dreamers to speak out and testify before the House Judiciary Committee. This is what she said:

I was born in Germany, my parents are Vietnamese, but I have been American raised and educated for the past 18 years. .....Without the DREAM Act, I have no prospect of overcoming my state of immigration limbo; I'll forever be a perpetual foreigner in a country where I've always considered myself an American.

In 2007, the last time the Senate voted on the DREAM Act, Tam was sitting right up there in that gallery. That day, the DREAM Act received 52 votes, a majority of the Senate. But under our rules, you need 60.

After the vote, I met with her and other students. Tears were in her eyes because her chances just basically had not been fulfilled. She was hopeful. She talked about the need to pass the DREAM Act so she would have a chance to contribute more fully to this country, the home she loved so much.

She will not be here for the vote tomorrow because we lost her in that car accident. But I remember her, and I remember others who are here tonight who understand the importance of this bill. It is not just another exercise in the Senate of legislative authority. It really is an opportunity to give young people like those I have just introduced to you a chance.

Mr. President, it is going to be hard tomorrow. I have been on the phone. I cannot tell you how many of my colleagues have said: I know it is the right thing to do, but it is so hard politically. We know we are going to be accused of supporting amnesty. We know our opponents will use it against us.

I understand that. I have not always taken a courageous path in my own votes, so I am not going to hold myself out as any paragon of Senate virtue. But I just ask each and every one of my Senate colleagues to think about this for a moment. How many chances will you get in your public life to do something like this--to right a wrong, to address an injustice, to give people a chance to be part of this great Nation?

I am a lucky person. My mom was an immigrant to this country. She was brought over here when she was 2 years old. In her time, she might have been a DREAM Act student. She got to be a citizen of the United States. She was naturalized at the age of 23, after she was married and had two kids.

Before she died, I asked her once if I could see her naturalization certificate. She went in the other room, and a minute later came out with it in a big, brown envelope. I pulled it out, and there was a picture of my mom 60 years before. A little piece of paper fluttered to the floor. I picked it up and said: What's this, mom? She said: Look at it. It was a receipt that said: $2.50. She said: That is the receipt for my filing fee that I had to file to become a citizen. And I thought, if the government ever came and challenged me, I would have proof that I paid my filing fee. That was my mom. That immigrant woman came to this country and made a life and made a family and brought a son to the Senate.

These stories are the same. The opportunities are there with these young lives to make this a better nation. The opportunity is there if Members of the Senate can summon the courage tomorrow to vote for the DREAM Act and to make these dreams come true.

I would like at this point to yield to my colleague and friend, Senator Bob Menendez.

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague and friend, Senator Menendez, for that great speech. I know it was heartfelt. I thank him for waiting late this evening to come and those who have joined us because they understand that though the hour is late, our time is short before we cast this historic vote.

As I mentioned earlier, as I called my colleagues today, some of whom are on the fence, not sure, they said: I toss and turn thinking about this. I hope they toss and turn all night tonight and wake up tomorrow with a smile and determination on their face to do something right for America, to make sure they will have a good night's sleep Saturday night because they have been able to fulfill the dreams of so many young people who are counting on them tomorrow to rise above their political fears and to really join ranks with so many in this Chamber who, through its history, have shown uncommon political courage in moving this Nation forward in the name of freedom and justice.

Mr. MENENDEZ. If my colleague will yield, I am sure the distinguished Senator from Illinois knows from his long political history that when you toss and turn, you know what is right. You don't toss and turn if you have a commitment and conviction of the choice you are going to make. You toss and turn when you know what the right choice is, but for other reasons you may not be willing to make that choice.

Mr. DURBIN. I think the Senator is correct.

Mr. President, I don't know what the most effective way is in Washington to lobby a bill, but I will tell you that there are no more effective spokesmen and spokeswomen for the DREAM Act than the young men and women who have been walking the Halls of the Senate over the last several weeks, months, and years. They wear caps and gowns, as if they are headed for a graduation, which is what they want to do. They have made the case in a way that I could not on the floor of the Senate because of their determination and the dignity they have brought to us.

Stick with us, I say to each one of them. Don't give up. Tomorrow, we are going to try our very best to rally the votes we need because our cause is right and our time is now.

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