From africa, sweden, asia. One of the students and i talked about just graduated from william and Mary Law School in the last month and thus became the first dreamer to be a Law School Graduate in virginia. In one of the few dreamers who have obtained a law the United States. I talked about her story but today i decided not to talk about stories of individuals but to put it in context with the message really being the time to make a decision is now. We do not need more information. We just need the will to act and do what i think is the right and fair thing to do. Because we have been at this discussion now, it is hard to believe weve been at this discussion for 16 years. American public, democrats, republicans and independents overwhelmingly supported permanent solution for dreamers. It is not that we need to know anything want to solve this. Weve been talking about this for a very long time and i want to encourage the members of this body and the house that are involved in the negotiation, come to an agreement. Provide a permanent protection for dreamers. Before next friday so that we can protect this community which is right and because they are so worried about being deported for losing their ability to work, to go to school, to protect their families. But it is more than just protecting people because they are frightened. It is protecting them because as i have seen in virginia, in every state, they so enrich this country. The first version of the d. R. E. A. M act heartedly was introduced in 2001. What the senator from illinois who is been a champion of this and has my deepest admiration for his persistence in this endeavor. Introduce the first version of the d. R. E. A. M act together with the senior senator from utah. Senator orrin hatch. Bill has evolved since then. It was not exactly the same as what we are contemplating now but it was the first version of this bill. And a provision of the 1996 Immigration Reform that prohibited undocumented immigrants from eligibility for higher education. Instead, with the bill in its original version did 17 years ago was to grant permanent residence status to young undocumented immigrants with a High School Equivalent were School Diploma and did not have a criminal record. That was the start of the discussion. We are still looking for the permanent answer. The d. R. E. A. M act almost 1st passed in 2007. Obtained more than a majority vote in the senate but it did not get the 60 vote threshold so it was and sufficient for passage. In 2010 the house passed the d. R. E. A. M act but the senate again failed to improve with a 60 vote threshold. In 2013, just a few months after i came to the senate, we contemplated, debated and discussed, voted upon comprehensive Immigration Reform in june. I was kind of proud. I was a young senator. Just had been here a couple of months. I was in my chair and offered a speech on the floor of the senate in spanish two describes an aggressive 45 million americans who get their news every day in the spanish language. And after i crwas done describi it people came up to me and said has anyone ever done that before . And is it frankly, i dont know. Turns out it was the first time in history of the body that his speech had been given in a language other than english. But what was important in that moment in june 2013 was not a speech. It was utthe vote. The package was comprehensive. It included not just the d. R. E. A. M act of border security, assistance for employers to determine the immigration of those applying for worker visa reforms, and approval for people here under temporary protective status from el salvador, honduras, nicaragua. Somalia, sudan, haiti. To become permanent legal residents and possibly then convert that into a path to citizenship. The comprehensive Immigration Reform bill which to my view represents the Senate Working at its best, Bipartisan Working Group coming through committee, coming to the floor with amendments passed this body with 68 votes in favor. It was evidence mr. President of the nacvetc of a young center at the time that i send of course, something is going to happen because it passed with 68 votes. I did house would not do exactly what we did but i thought that they would do something. And we would be conferencing it but alas, i was nacve that was not to happen. But we are now in a different place and we have the ability to act. I supported president obama his actions in june 2012 to protect dreamers. The daca and later the daca program is critical that those actions were completely in accord with earlier executive actions that hthe president ha taken in areas of immigration. And then, 2012, 800,000 young people have achieved dreamer status. And they are not so young anymore. Sometimes it refers to them as students and kids but they are in the military, their parents, teachers, active in their communities. I meet them all over virginia. Like i said there are 13,000 in my state. The daca status has allowed them to continue their educations and tearing the only country theyve ever known. I was upset when i heard that the president would terminate this program in six months. I felt it was a breaking of a to these young people. Because he said even as a candidate and then as president that dreamers were good kids and wouldnt have anything to worry about. But i will say that there was one aspect of what the president said. I cannot just be critical without pointing out there was one thing about what he said that i thought was right. He said congress should fix it. Now that i agreed with the president on. I wish he hadnt terminated the program but he was right that this is something for congress to fix because anything done by executive action, even fully within the power the president to take it, is subject to being changed by another executor. And the lives and futures of these young people are such that we shouldnt be scaring them about whether they are protected or not or maybe back to be protected depending on who is the occupant of the white house. And so that president ial announcement in march i was disappointed, that piece of it, congress should fix it, i think the president was right. And i think he is right. I think this is something that Congress Must fix, should fix, can fix and we have all the information about it to fix it right now. It has been difficult and a little bit heartbreaking to talk to these young people and their families about the fears that they have. I dont live under the fear of deportation. I do not live under the fear of my job being taken away because of my status. I do not live under the fear of my kids not being able to get into state tuition and having to pay out of state were not being able to afford it at all. It is not a fear i walked around with every day. And it is hard to put yourself in somebody elses shoes and experience the fear and even care that their feeling when you do not have that same exposure yourself. But i spent a lot of time listening to these young people and their parents and those in virginia in richmond especially where i live. The fear that they feel is very palpable. And the panic that tthey feel i very palpable. And i understand why they do. Of their job should not be to increase anxiety and fear part of it should be when it is the right thing to do, when it is whatever in our grasp to take action and provide clarity and certainty so people will know what their status is. I think the time for now it is 16 years i think it will be the most important thing im saying that this is not a new issue. It is not that we need another week or another month or another near to figure out the answer is. The first bill was introduced in 2001 and i think you were 19, 2018 is ample time for us now to get this right and make it either part of the spending bills that we will do and part of a standalone bill that we could embrace as a body. I was heartened by some of the comments the president made yesterday about this. We can do it in the time is right to do it now. I would ask my colleagues and especially urge on those in negotiations to make this decision and provide these wonderful young people with certainty about their future. With that mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. President. Senator from minnesota. I joined my colleague from virginia as well as senator m durbin. Who is not working so hard to get this done. To stand up for the dreamers and give my strong support once again for taking action on the d. R. E. A. M act. We need to take up this bill. As the senator just noted, i also was heartened through meeting the white house the fact of this president that he understands that we just cannot wait until march to get this done. That we need to get this done soon and for me, the easiest way to do this is by passing the d. R. E. A. M. Act. The federal Court Decision in california yesterday will provide some rytemporary relief as every single day, more and more kids fall out of status. Sound like a legal term but for them, it changes their whole life. And these are kids that literally believed our government. They were told, you register, you sign up and we will allow you to stay. And then, with one little moment and a signature, that all changed. Their lives changed. And so it is our obligation now in the United States senate to get this done. We have already seen the harmful effects of the administrative Work Administration decision to end the deferred action for Childhood Arrivals Program and the situation will continue to get worse until we take action. This is not just a small thing. I have met these kids. 97 percent of them either work or they are in school. The average age that they were brought to this country is 6 arand a half years old. And a few months back i stood in front of a Catholic Church with our archbishop of the twin cities, and a number of his parishioners. And a number of the priests from that church who talked about what this meant in peoples lives. Kids brought over through no fault of their own. My favorite example of the dreamer, is joseph medina. He was brought over and did not notice at the time as a baby and they brought him. His parents had died and he was brought over to minnesota where he was raised. And this is a long time ago. When he got to be the right age, he decided that he wanted to serve our country. And he signed up to serve in world war ii. Well, back then he went to the military and to the army. He said it turns out, i did not know what term they use back then but they said he was undocumented. And as he explained it to me when i first met him at the young age of 99, he explained to me back then, all you did was go to canada for a day. With our countries okay and slept in a hotel for one night which is what he did. And then came back and then he was signed up by the army n he serving. He came back to this country, he met his wife, got married and had a son. And that son served in the vietnam war. And a few years ago, when he was 99, i got to bring him to washington. And we stood in front of the world war ii memorial. And there he stood. He had never seen it before and he would never go again. He just died at the age of 103. But he stood there with two dreamers. Suburban High School Kids from minnesota wanted to join the air force. But they could not do it. They did not have that status because they were dreamers also. They were brought over his young children. And to me and brought it all home. This is a war hero. Someone who has served our country and this is the kind oft person that we are talking about when we talk about the dreamers. And his last act of patriotism and his last few years of his life, was to continue to push so that other kids could serve their country just like he had and just like his son had. We had not reached an agreement yet on this bill. Reports about that bipartisan meeting are helpful but time is ticking here. The American Public is with us. This is not one of these issues with the public says, what are they doing, this makes no sense . No. A recent poll, 86 percent of americans support action to allow dreamers to stay here in the United States. Im very hopeful that we can come together on a bipartisan agreement. The dream act is based on 1b should have an opportunity for these 800,000 people that came over here with no fault of their own. They should have the opportunity to call this country home as i have been doing for so many years. Passing the d. R. E. A. M. Act is just not the morally right thing to do it is economically right to do. One recent study estimated that ending the daca would cost the country over 400 billion over the next 10 years. It will cost my state more than annual revenue. We are proud to be the home of more than 6000 dreamers. Since it was established in 2012, nearly 800,000 young people who have glived in the since childhood to get better lives. Think about that. 800,000 people. As i mentioned, 97 percent of them are in school or in the workforce. 72 percent currently in school pursuing a bachelor degree or higher for more than 100 students right now in medical school last year. Nearly 100 of them currently enrolled in medical school. At a time when we need more doctors. Particularly in rural areas. Those are the facts. And i note that at the meeting at the white house, the president actually said that he wanted to pursue comprehensive Immigration Reform and this is done. Something we have done before on a bipartisan basis in the senate. I deleted that is what we need to do now. Talked with economic sense of the dreamers. Cnelook at our country overall. 70 of fortune 500 companies are headed by immigrants. 25 percent of our us, us were born in other countries could immigrants have been an economic engine for this country. Everyone in rthis chamber came from somewhere. Their relatives came from somewhere. My grandparents on my mother side came from switzerland. My fathers side, great grandparents came from slovenia. They worked so hard just to send my dad to college and save money in a coffee can in a basement. And im here today with great grandparents coming straight from there. Right grandfather working in a mine. My father being the first one in his family to go to college and get a four year degree. I literally stand here on the shoulders of these immigrants. On my mother side the swiss side my grandfather came over and he ended up at ellis island when he was 18 years old. They had reached the swiss immigrants. He somehow got himself to canada. I think he said he was going to live there. And he came back there because he wanted to be in our country. He came back there and he ended up in wisconsin. With my other relatives on my grandmother sides working at a cheese factory. And was an alien for 20 years. He finally applied for citizenship when world war ii was breaking out. That is when they found out that in fact, he maybe had come in the country two different ways. Back then they listened to his story and they give him citizenship. Otherwise he would have been deported. I think it was three weeks before the us joined world war ii. As a swiss german. But instead, he married my grandmother back then. They had my mother and her brother. And here i am again. I am on the shoulders of immigrants. So when i see these dreamers, i see my own family. And i hope everyone in this chamber sees the same thing. The american dream. And that is why mr. President , i stand with the senators and so many of my colleagues have been working on this for so long on both sides of the aisle. There has been leadership on both sides of the aisle. So lets get this done. Lets pass the d. R. E. A. M. Act and lets never forget that we all come from somewhere. Thank you. I yield the floor. More about dreamers and the daca im here today with a very simple straightforward demand. We must act now to pass a d. R. E. A. M. Act. Very simply, the honor and integrity of this chamber are at stake. Young people who would be covered under the d. R. E. A. M. Act are americans in all but name. They came here as children. They grew up as americans. They go to our schools, our in our military and sup