Harry Reid Promises Senate Will Hold A Vote On The DREAM Act In Lame-Duck Session

[Tx4obama]

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised to bring the DREAM Act, an important piece of legislation for the Latino community, to a vote in the Senate after the November elections -- whether or not Democrats retain their majority.

Reid's remarks will air Sunday on Univision in an interview with host Jorge Ramos. On Twitter, Ramos wrote, "Harry Reid told me that, win or lose, he will present again the Dream Act in the Senate after the elections."

The Huffington Post confirmed Reid's remark with a Democratic source, who said that the exact timeline hasn't yet been worked out. The source noted that because the federal government is operating under a continuing resolution, the first order of business will likely be approving new funding, as well as approving a large number of Obama nominees who have been blocked by Republicans. But the source confirmed that Reid's answer to Ramos on whether he will bring up the DREAM Act was an "unequivocal yes."

Immigration advocates praised the news that the DREAM Act will receive a chance for passage in the lame-duck session of Congress.

"The DREAM Act would give a group of young immigrants here without immigration status through no fault of their own the chance to attend college, serve in the military and earn citizenship," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice. "These valedictorians, future scientists and future soldiers are Americans in all but paperwork, and we are thrilled that Senator Reid is committed to moving this common-sense measure before the end of the year."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/29/harry-reid-dream-act-senate_n_775917.html

[Unvanguard]

1. I hope this is for real. And I hope it passes. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Tx4obama.

[Tx4obama]

8. You're welcome :) n/t

[blondeatlast]

3. Nice to hear! k/r

[Mean Gene]

4. Lame-Duck Session Vote

k/r

[Grassy Knoll]

5. This should kick him up come Tues.

:kick: & R

[jeff47]

6. Too bad he couldn't be bothered

to bring it to a vote when it would help the election.

[Tx4obama]

7. It was brought up for a vote a couple of weeks ago...

The Dream Act was attached to the Defense Appropriations bill that the republicans voted against cloture on.

[FrenchieCat]

9. It was brought up for a vote.

[w4rma]

10. I don't trust this legislation. It looks like an attempt to get more cheap labor, to me. (nt)

[The Northerner]

12. I couldn't agree more

[pampango]

13. "AFL-CIO calls on members of Congress to take immediate steps to pass the DREAM Act in 2010"

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/ecouncil/ec08052010i.cfm

The Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, would remedy this situation by allowing undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least five years and have graduated from high school or received a graduate equivalency diploma (GED) to legalize their immigration status through pursuing a college education or serving in the U.S. military.

The DREAM Act would provide these hard-working immigrant students the chance to obtain conditional legal status, along with an opportunity to go to college, serve in our military, and become the productive, tax-paying citizens that they have worked so hard to become. Access to higher education will allow these immigrants to make even greater contributions to our society, and decrease the numbers of those forced to live in poverty.

Undocumented students have waited many years for this legislation to become law, yet have never had the support and political will needed from Congressional Leadership to succeed. The time to act is now.

The AFL-CIO calls on members of Congress to take immediate steps to pass the DREAM Act in 2010 as down payment to Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
---------------------------------------
SEIU: Pass the DREAM Act

http://www.seiu.org/2010/09/pass-the-dream-act.php

It is essential we urge all Democratic Senators and Republicans to vote yes on the DREAM Act amendment to DOD and also secure Republican support to get the 60 votes needed to secure passage.

The DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for children who were brought to this country by no choice of their own and SEIU supports it's passage.
----------------------------------------
CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS' POSITION ON IMMIGRATION REFORM:

Support the DREAM ACT or legislation that would restores states’ rights to offer in-state tuition to non-citizen students residing in their state and that would provide a path to citizenship for hardworking non-citizen youth who want to contribute fully to our society.

http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?ItemID=184&ContentID=186&ParentID=0&SectionID=66&SectionTree=66&SearchKey=dream%20act§ionTypeID=4

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. its not, you should really look into it some more and hear

from people who benefit by the dream act

[Joe Bacon]

11. Yeah, and the Republicans will filibuster it again.

Amazing how Republicans could pass everything they want when they never had more than 55 seats. Yet the Democrats are too weak to do it with 60...

[Doctor_J]

14. Poor Harry

if he thinks there will be votes on anything over the next two months, he's really gone around the bend.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Good for Harry Reid, and the mentally functional part of the Senate.

Very kind of him to share this good news.

Would have missed learning about this entirely if it hadn't been for your thread, Tx4obama.

Thanks, a lot.

Got here too late to give it another recommendation it deserves.

[AlinPA]

16. The republicans will kill it. He is dreaming with the "a handful of republicans". nt

[ieoeja]

23. How many Senate Republicans were voted out in the primaries?

Those have nothing to lose by crossing the aisle at this point. Even those who win re-election have six years for the public to forget their votes. As do re-elected rightwing Democrats.

And immigration is an issue Republican elected officials do *not* like. The corporations want reform. The bigots do not. They need money from the former and votes from the latter. Immigration is a lose-lose to Republicans. So making the issue go away for a few years will let them sleep better at night.

[sally cat]

17. Thank goodness for lame duck sessions. Important legislation can finally be passed.

[Tx4obama]

18. UPDATE on link below

Sunday: Reid's Official Announcement
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/reid-promises-immigration-vote-after-election/?partner=rss&emc=rss

[hughee99]

20. "Win or lose", yeah, right. If Dems win, you won't see this.

If it turned out to be this effective that what looked to be a possible repuke landslide in the midterms turns into a Dem victory, there is absolutely no way in hell they don't let the DREAM Act hang around until 2012. It's a shame that such legislation is only advanced as a means to get out the vote before election day rather than on it's own merits.

[pampango]

21. The DREAM Act is as American as apple pie. Behind it is the uncontroversial idea that we do not hold

children accountable for their parents' actions.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/01/altschuler.gop.dream.act/

Its basic premise is to offer a path to citizenship to children whose parents brought them to this country with or without their consent. In our broken system, once they grow up, these children face deportation to countries they have never known.

Under DREAM, they would earn their citizenship by going to college or serving in the military, the latter option being the reason that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appended DREAM to a defense bill.

DREAM's message is practical and straightforward: Encourage children of immigrants who have grown up in America to continue studying (good for the economy) or join the military (good for national defense).

But the GOP said no, as it said on energy spending, financial regulation and health care. On its face, this has just been the most recent episode in the GOP's broader strategy -- block Democratic efforts and then denounce the Democrats as incapable ideologues.

The difference on immigration is that Republicans said no while many simultaneously began supporting nativist state legislation, first in Arizona and then in more than 20 other states.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. exactly, it really should be uncontroversial no matter how protective one is of American jobs