The DREAM Act, which has been unable to clear filibuster threats for years, clawed its way back to life again yesterday as Democrats plotted an attempt to move the bill before a new, Republican-powered Congress takes over next year. The day began with a White House meeting between President Obama and Congressional Hispanic Caucus leadership, and ended with the announcement from New York Rep. Nydia Velasquez that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had tentatively set Nov. 29 as the date to bring the DREAM Act up for a vote. President Obama has been a reliable DREAM Act supporter, but has done little publicly to get the bill moving, until now. In a stark departure from his administration’s hardline stance on immigration, the White House announced that Obama promised to put his weight behind passing the DREAM Act in the lame duck session. “The President and the CHC leaders believe that, before adjourning, Congress should approve the DREAM Act,” a White House statement read. “This legislation has traditionally enjoyed support from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and would give young people who were brought as minors to the United States by their parents the opportunity to earn their citizenship by pursuing a college degree or through military service.”
LET’S DO THIS.
