[Pages S3300-S3304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               DREAM Act

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it was over 20 years ago that our office 
was contacted in Chicago. It was a young woman named Tereza Lee. She 
had been born in Korea and as an infant was taken to Brazil. And then 
her father, who was a Protestant minister, brought her and her mother 
to Chicago.
  She contacted our office because she had a problem when it came to 
her citizenship. It seems that the decision to move her around as an 
infant, made by her parents, left her undocumented.
  Her family didn't have a lot of money. She grew up with her father 
who was a Protestant minister, trying to find the proper church. And 
she went from church to church as her father preached sermons and made 
a few dollars to keep the family together.
  While her father was practicing his sermons at the church, she was in 
the back room banging away at the piano. As a student in public schools 
in Chicago, she got her first opportunity for real lessons through 
something called the Merit Music Program. She was great--extraordinary.
  By the time she finished high school, people recognized in her an 
extraordinary musical genius. They encouraged her to apply to the 
best--Juilliard and Manhattan Conservatory of Music. As she filled out 
the application to go to these great schools, she would run across that 
question: What is your nationality? What is your citizenship?
  She never thought to ask. Turns out she was undocumented. She didn't 
know what that meant in terms of her future, and a friend of hers 
contacted our office to see what we could do.
  The law is very clear for Tereza Lee. Although it was her parents and 
others who made decisions in her life that resulted in an undocumented 
status, the law of the United States said that she had to leave the 
United States for 10 years and apply to come back in.
  Didn't sound right to me. She didn't make any of those decisions; her 
parents did. She had done everything she was supposed to do: go to 
school, get good grades, develop her talent. And yet, we were rejecting 
her and sending her out of the country.
  It is at that point that I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. If 
you talked about Dreamers before that bill was introduced, most people 
would refer you to the British rock group Freddie and the Dreamers, 
which very few people remember.
  But since then, the word ``Dreamers'' has come to characterize these 
young people who, by decisions of their parents, are in the United 
States undocumented.
  Today, we mark the 13th anniversary of the program called Deferred 
Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA. It is a program 
which affects these Dreamers and their future.
  I first introduced the DREAM Act with Republican Senator Orrin Hatch 
in 2001--24 years ago. I have included it in many forms of legislation 
that comes to the Senate floor, repeatedly introduced it as an 
amendment over the years. I have never quite been able to reach the 
point where I can meet the 60-vote requirement to waive the filibuster 
or to pass it in the House the same year.
  After years of congressional action, in 2010, I wrote a letter to a 
man who is my former colleague from Illinois who had been elected 
President of the

[[Page S3301]]

United States, Barrack Obama. And I asked him--and Senator Richard 
Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, joined me in asking President Obama 
if he could do something to stop the deportation of these young 
Dreamers.
  Two years later, President Obama announced the DACA Program. The DACA 
Program has protected nearly 835,000 Dreamers, many of whom who have 
gone on to pursue higher education, purchase homes, start businesses, 
and make America a better country to live in.
  These young people who grew up in this country alongside my own kids, 
went to school, stood up in the morning before class and pledged 
allegiance to that flag and believed that they were real Americans from 
the start--but not in the eyes of the law.
  DACA recipients have started families; 37 percent have U.S. citizen 
children; and 935,000 U.S. citizens live with DACA holders. It is a 
large chunk of our population, and they have done dramatic things to 
make this a better country.
  DACA recipients greatly contribute to our labor force. They are 
teachers, nurses, workers, doctors, and more. They boost our economy, 
providing nearly $16 billion to the U.S. economy each year.
  I have been coming to the Senate floor for 20 years telling the 
stories of Dreamers and DACA recipients. I don't think there is any 
better way to describe who they are and what they go through to try to 
become American citizens and be part of the future of this country.
  I would like to highlight one of them today.
  This is the 149th story of a Dreamer that I have shared on the floor 
of the Senate. Alondra O. was born in Mexico and moved to the St. Louis 
metropolitan area when she was 5 years old. She was a great student.
  She became a member of the National Honor Society. She was certified 
as a nurse assistant, a patient care technician, and phlebotomist all 
by the time she graduated from high school. Her dream was to become a 
full-time registered nurse. Do we need more nurses? Absolutely.
  Despite the national nursing shortage and her excellent 
qualifications, Alondra was unable to get a nursing license in her home 
State of Missouri because State law there prohibits DACA recipients 
from becoming nurses.
  But she didn't give up.
  Missouri's loss became my home State of Illinois's gain. And today, 
Alondra serves as an emergency department registered nurse in Alton, 
IL, just across the river from Missouri.
  Sadly, Alondra still lives in fear today every day that all of her 
hard work would mean nothing if DACA is eliminated. She has lived in 
this country since she was 5 years old. She should not be forced to 
leave the only home she has ever known simply because Congress has 
failed to do its job to fix our broken immigration system.
  Alondra should be able to work in this critical field where we 
desperately need nurses, wherever her services are most needed, and do 
so without fear of deportation.
  I have heard a lot said in political campaigns about murderers, 
rapists, terrorists, and mentally deranged people who were seeking to 
make a future in the United States. What about Alondra? Does she fit 
any of those categories? Of course not.
  She, against the odds, built a great reputation and a great resume, 
with her education, training, and work experience. She is doing work in 
her field in a part of our State where we desperately need nurses. She 
is no threat to anyone. She is not a danger. She is, in fact, a beacon 
of hope for those people who are sick and need a good nurse.
  Unfortunately, there has been a relentless campaign to eliminate DACA 
and deport Dreamers, so the future for Alondra and other DACA 
recipients remains legally uncertain.
  Basic question: Is America better off to have Alondra the nurse in 
Alton, IL, here or to deport her from the United States to a country 
she hasn't seen since she was 5 years old?
  More than 100,000 Dreamers have initial DACA applications that are 
still pending. They are in limbo because for years we haven't allowed 
those who qualified to apply to join the ranks of DACA. DACA was always 
intended to be a temporary program to give Congress time to pass a 
permanent solution. We are not very good at passing anything in 
Congress.
  Now in their 13th year, it is time for us to honor the Dreamers' 
patience, act on our promises, and provide them with a pathway to 
citizenship.
  My mother was an immigrant to this country. I am proud of immigrants. 
Our family came here with nothing, not even speaking the language, 
worked hard, and established themselves.
  My mother--eighth grade education, no experience in high school or 
college--raised three boys to serve this country. My two brothers were 
in the U.S. Navy, and I serve here in the U.S. Senate. Is immigration 
important for this country? The Durbin family believes that it is.
  I am going to continue to fight for the Dreamers, continue to fight 
for DACA.
  I urge my Republican colleagues, be thoughtful on the issue of 
immigration. Don't penalize Alondra, this wonderful young woman who has 
worked so hard to become a registered nurse in my State of Illinois. 
Give her a chance to make America and my State a better place.
  We remember this anniversary of the DACA Program and thank President 
Obama for his vision to realize these young people could make this a 
better country and realize we have to be thoughtful when it comes to 
immigration.
  If you are a danger to this country, we don't want you here, we don't 
want you coming here, but if you are going to make this a better place 
to live, we not only want you, we desperately need you. The DACA 
Program represents hundreds of thousands of young people who prove that 
every single day of their lives.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, first of all, let me thank the 
Democratic whip from Illinois. He has been steadfast and persistent in 
his fight for Dreamers in this country and has not given up and has 
been a critical and crucial voice not only for Dreamers but for the 
fight for passage of comprehensive immigration reform that puts 
Dreamers on a pathway to citizenship, and their families, and I thank 
him for that.
  In 5 days, we will celebrate 13 years since President Obama created 
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, Program, which so 
many have been referring to. DACA has proven to be an overwhelming 
success, allowing Dreamers who have only ever known the United States 
as their home to continue contributing to our economy and our 
communities.
  DACA protects immigrants who came to the United States as children 
from deportation, and it authorizes them to legally work.
  Nevada and every State in the country has benefited from DACA. We are 
a better, stronger country because of this program.
  In my State, in Nevada, nearly 136,000 U.S. citizens live with at 
least 1 family member who is undocumented. In Nevada, 10,730 people are 
DACA recipients. And we know, no matter what President Trump and others 
say, that our immigrant communities are a critical part of what makes 
our country great. I know that.
  My grandfather is from Chihuahua, across the border, served in our 
military, and became a U.S. citizen.
  The Dreamers I know in my community have gone to college, they have 
become a part of our workforce, they pay millions of dollars in taxes, 
and they are woven into the fabric of every community in Nevada and, I 
will say, across this country. Dreamers contribute $810 million each 
year to our economy in Nevada alone.
  They love this country, and it is their home.
  As we celebrate the 13th anniversary of DACA, we must remember that 
the young people who became the first DACA recipients are now in their 
thirties and forties. They have the responsibilities that all American 
adults have: maintaining their careers, caring for elderly relatives, 
paying bills and mortgages, and, yes, putting food on the table for 
their families. But their ability to remain in the only home they have 
ever known is in jeopardy thanks to this administration's threats to 
end DACA.
  President Trump tried to terminate DACA entirely in his first term, 
but he

[[Page S3302]]

was stopped by the courts. Now immigrant families across the country 
are once again bracing for their lives to be turned upside down on any 
given day because of the threats of mass deportation and further 
attacks on the program.
  I can't even imagine how exhausting it must be to spend so many years 
in fear and limbo--especially for Dreamers who have done everything 
right, who know this country as their only home, who want to be the 
future leaders, who want to be part of our communities, who want to be 
our doctors and our teachers, and to know that they are always 
concerned about that opportunity for their future.

  They have, for the last 13 years, been met with endless delays and 
politics and people playing with their lives for some sort of political 
gain. Not only that, but immigrant communities, as you have heard the 
minority whip say, are being demonized, and they are facing threats 
because of politicians stoking hate and division in our communities. 
People who have lived here their whole lives and contribute to our 
country are now being told by those politicians that they do not 
belong.
  Here is the other thing: I know that in my State, they are being 
demonized and called out by these politicians as criminals and drug 
traffickers and rapists. Well, I invite any of those politicians to 
come into my State and meet with my Dreamers.
  I challenge anyone in this country who knows these families and knows 
these Dreamers to stand by them because right now, they are under 
attack. And it is something that is not happening out of sight or 
behind closed doors; it is happening in our neighborhoods every single 
day.
  These Dreamers have families who are a crucial part of our 
communities. You know them. We know them. They have families. Many of 
them have spouses and children who are U.S. citizens. They just want to 
be able to live normal lives and contribute and continue to pay taxes 
and be a part of our jobs and our economy and expanding this economy 
and this country.
  I will tell you, over the years, my office has received stacks of 
letters from Nevadans who have been impacted by DACA about the 
importance of the program for them and their families. I want to share 
just a couple of those stories and those letters with you.
  I received a letter from a 10-year-old girl who was born in North Las 
Vegas. Her father is a Dreamer who has lived in the United States since 
he was 7 years old.
  Her father always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but for much of his 
career, he was denied opportunity after opportunity. But that changed 
when he became a recipient of DACA. He was able to get a good job, buy 
a home for his family, and give his kids a better life.
  But every day, his daughter lives in fear that her father, who has 
worked hard in America all his life, could get deported back to Mexico 
and that she and her siblings would have to live in a country whose 
language they don't even speak.
  She said:

       I would love for the government to see that my daddy and 
     all Dreamers like him only want to be good citizens and have 
     a better future.

  She hopes to be a pediatrician one day and serve her community just 
like her dad always dreamed.
  The second letter I want to share with you I received from a young 
woman whose parents brought her to Nevada when she was just 2 years 
old. When she turned 18, she was excited to start working so that she 
could earn a living for herself, but as an undocumented Dreamer without 
a Social Security number, she couldn't apply for the jobs her peers 
were getting.
  She said:

       I am as much a citizen as them. I can do all that they are 
     able to do. I have witnessed several individuals around my 
     age waste their potential. They have everything they could 
     possibly receive and choose not to take advantage [of it].

  I will tell you Dreamers jump at every opportunity to create a better 
life for themselves than their parents had. I will tell you these 
Dreamers do not run afoul of the law. I will tell you these Dreamers do 
everything they possibly can to prove why they want to live here and be 
a crucial part of our communities, but all the while, they live in fear 
that their families could be torn apart by our broken immigration 
system that we have an obligation to fix.
  DACA has been an essential way to provide stability for the Dreamers 
and their families, but right now in my State and across the country, 
Dreamers haven't been able to apply for new DACA protections. Nearly 
half of Nevada's Dreamers are eligible for DACA, but unfortunately 
thousands of Dreamers in my State are currently vulnerable because this 
administration is refusing to accept their DACA applications.
  Now it is in direct defiance of a court order. As of March of this 
year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump 
administration must start accepting new DACA applications because that 
is the law, but months have gone by, and we have not seen any progress.
  Yesterday--yesterday--my staff learned for the first time that one 
single new application had been processed and accepted--just one. Well, 
while one is better than zero, I will say this administration has a lot 
of work to do to follow the law and accept more applicants into the 
DACA Program.
  I am so pleased my colleagues and I are here today to keep the 
pressure on, to make sure this administration follows the law but also 
to appeal to our Republican colleagues. It is time we come together and 
work together to put Dreamers and their families on a pathway to 
citizenship. These Dreamers are as American in their hearts as you and 
I. Our country is better with them in it. As we celebrate the 13th 
anniversary of DACA, I remain committed to working with anyone--
anyone--who is willing to protect them and do the same.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I so appreciate the comments of my 
colleague from Nevada. So many of us are so frustrated with the failure 
of this legislature to address this fundamental injustice to our 
Dreamers.
  Certainly immigration has been a part of the American spirit for a 
very long time. In 1752, three Merkle brothers--a name that was later 
converted to Merkley--arrived from Germany to be the first three of 
four settlers of the town of New Durlach.
  More than a century later, we had those powerful words written by 
Emma Lazarus carved into the base of the Statue of liberty:

       Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning 
     to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 
     Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp 
     beside the golden door!

  Generations of immigrant families that were brought in through the 
Statue of Liberty island immigration center read those words as they 
arrived and were inspired as they began their American dream. But those 
who didn't come through that immigration center were also inspired by 
that vision of people coming from around the world to build this land, 
this land in which we have government of, by, and for the people.

  Among those who have been inspired are those who arrived in more 
recent times. And our Dreamers, those who were less than 16, arriving 
before 2007, they were being given the chance, through the decision of 
President Obama, to grant them status in 2012 to have their American 
dream. And their success as a group shows it was the right policy and 
that it is long past time for Congress to pass a Dream Act to give them 
a path to citizenship.
  Our good colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, has been fighting 
for these young people for passage of the Dream Act time and time 
again. And it is the Senate's 40-vote veto that has stopped us from 
ever having a vote on that policy, a final vote on that policy.
  You know, the Dream Act didn't simply come from one side of the 
aisle. It was Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican, who first introduced 
it in 2001. But the bill for the Dreamers has languished in Congress 
year after year after year. In 2012, President Obama, therefore, took 
action and announced a deferred action for childhood arrivals, the DACA 
policy, to protect those children who were brought here as youth, knew, 
often, no other country, often spoke no other language. This is their 
home.

[[Page S3303]]

  And he noted at the time that this was to be ``a temporary stopgap 
measure'' for Congress to be able to debate and vote on a permanent 
legislation, the Dream Act. But Congress hasn't voted--that is, the 
Senate has never voted on final passage--despite decades, despite 
bipartisan support. And even now, in December, President Trump said on 
``Meet the Press''--so we are talking just months ago, after he won 
reelection: ``We have to do something about the Dreamers.''
  So let's do something here as we note the 13th anniversary of DACA. 
More than 825,000 young men and women--approximately 8,000 in my home 
State of Oregon--are caught in legal limbo yet ``yearning to breathe 
free.'' Won't they be able to breathe a lot freer if we were able to 
resolve their legal status?
  In 2022, the Department of Homeland Security codified DACA. But due 
to litigation, more than 100,000 applications are still pending from 
people seeking DACA protections. The Trump administration has been 
quite aggressive about deporting undocumented immigrants. And it could, 
in fact, rescind DACA's protections. So let's act. Let's resolve this 
situation.
  Here is what we understand. In 2012, President Obama described 
recipients as ``young people who study in our schools, who play in our 
neighborhoods, who are friends with our children, who pledge allegiance 
to the flag.'' But while Congress waited to act all these years, those 
young people have grown up. DACA's protections allowed them to graduate 
from school, to apply for jobs, to become pillars in our communities. 
Over the last 13 years, they contributed more than $140 billion to the 
U.S. economy and more than $40 billion in Federal payroll, State, and 
local taxes.
  They enrich our country in so many ways, serving as teachers, as 
nurses, as police officers, in addition to being our colleagues, our 
neighbors, and our friends.
  We are a nation of immigrants. Unless you are part of the Tribal 
communities that have been on this land from time immemorial, unless 
you just arrived as a new immigrant, you are descended from immigrants, 
immigrants who arrived here often with welcoming arms, as mentioned in 
Emma Lazarus's poem engraved in the foundation of the Statue of 
Liberty.
  We should not be slamming that door shut on the Dreamers who were 
brought here as children, who already contributed so much to our 
country.
  Let's not just give speeches about the 13th anniversary, let's get 
those 100,000 pending DACA applications processed. Let's get the Dream 
Act to the floor to give DACA recipients a legal path to citizenship, 
and let's finish the work that Senator Durbin and so many others have 
been carrying forward for so many years to ensure that the American 
dream is open to all.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, colleagues, time and time again, we have 
seen one of the most frequently called plays out of the Trump playbook. 
When everything else is going wrong, shift the narrative, scapegoat 
immigrants, blame immigrants for whatever your failure is at the 
moment.
  Well, today, between his failing trade wars that are raising the cost 
of living on working families across the country to his losses in 
Federal court and delays in the Congress on the efforts to give 
billionaires even bigger tax breaks, and even the embarrassing breakup 
recently with his former BBFF--billionaire best friend forever--Elon 
Musk, it is safe to say that Donald Trump is grasping for anything he 
can do to change the narrative, to distract us from the damage that his 
political agenda has going on.
  The smart thing would be to actually change course, rectify things, 
do things in the interest of our Nation and our economy. But what has 
he chosen to do instead? To double down. In order to distract the 
country from his failures and his efforts to ``flood the zone,'' Donald 
Trump is expanding his deportation agenda far beyond the focus and 
targeting of violent and dangerous criminals that he claimed would be 
the strategy.
  He is so desperate to show quick results that he is even throwing due 
process rights out the window for so many; the due process rights, by 
the way, that I know most of you, if not all of you, should agree are 
paramount, foundational to our democracy.
  As you continue to see this week, Trump is launching indiscriminate 
ICE raids in the Los Angeles region followed by a chaotic escalation 
federalizing California's National Guard and even mobilizing the 
Marines.
  It is personal for me, not just because Los Angeles is home--I was 
born and raised in Los Angeles--but as a proud son of immigrants. I 
know the true story of the vast majority of immigrants and immigrant 
families in Los Angeles, throughout California, and throughout the 
country.
  But instead of honoring those contributions--there is no disagreement 
with the prioritization and targeting of violent criminals--but the 
vast majority of folks, their contributions deserve to be honored. 
Instead, Donald Trump is manufacturing a crisis to, once again, not 
just distract us but divide us. Just as he has always done, he is using 
immigrants to do it.
  I can't help but speak up and remind us, immigrants are not political 
pawns for his agenda, just as servicemembers--women and men--are not 
political pawns for his agenda.
  So, yes, as we should be celebrating the 13th anniversary of DACA 
this week, hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients and Dreamers are 
actually now worried that they are at risk--at further risk--that they 
could be next as President Trump struggles to find enough violent 
criminals to detain and deport to meet a campaign promise. Since he 
can't get his numbers there, he will look elsewhere.
  I want to take this moment to make very clear: Dreamers are our 
neighbors. Dreamers are our loved ones. These are young people who are 
Americans in every sense of the word except for one important piece of 
paperwork, including over 160,000 DACA recipients in the State of 
California, alone.
  Yet because of Congressional Republicans' refusal to act, Dreamers 
live, at a minimum, in a constant state of uncertainty but oftentimes 
in a constant state of fear. They deserve better.
  They deserve permanent protections. This isn't just a moral issue, as 
righteous and compelling as those moral arguments should be. 
Colleagues, if that doesn't get you, you should be moved by the 
economic issues that this represents because if, through the President 
or through Republicans' actions in Congress, you were to take away work 
authorization for hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients, that is 
reducing our workforce at a time when we are trying to grow the 
workforce and grow the economy. If DACA were to come to an end, it 
could strip our workforce of over 400,000 workers and cost our country 
nearly $650 billion.
  Yes, they, too, are productive. I am talking about Dreamers who work 
as teachers, as caregivers, as nurses and doctors, as construction 
workers, as food service workers, and so many other key industries for 
our economy. And they are hard-working community members who pay taxes 
just like the rest of us and just want a chance to work hard and raise 
a family in the country that they love.
  They deserve peace of mind, the peace of mind to know that they are 
safe here at home. And that is why I am proud to support the Dream Act, 
a bill to provide permanent protections for Dreamers who contribute so 
much to our country. It is the least that we can do for Dreamers who 
have spent decades contributing to the Nation.
  And for my Republican colleagues who may be caught up in the heat of 
the moment and trapped in this anti-immigrant rhetoric in our current 
political climate on the right, I will say this: Dreamers make our 
communities better; Dreamers make our economy stronger; and Dreamers 
make our Nation stronger.
  The Dream Act is a commonsense bill that has enjoyed bipartisan 
support. So I urge you to join me in supporting the Dream Act now and 
in giving these young people the certainty and the protections that 
they deserve and strengthen our Nation in the process.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, as we approach the 13th anniversary of 
DACA, I rise today in support of this program and the thousands of 
Nevadans who rely on it.
  My State of Nevada is home to more than 12,000 DACA beneficiaries who

[[Page S3304]]

know of no other country as their own. They grew up in our communities 
and contribute to our Nation and to our economy. They are our 
neighbors, our friends, our family members. Many of them are now even 
raising their own families here--sending their kids to school, taking 
them to soccer practice, and going to the park on weekends.
  But Washington has failed them. What started out as a temporary 
program meant to protect Dreamers, while Congress worked to pass a more 
permanent solution, has turned into a decades-long lifeline for so 
many. Washington's gridlock and its inability to pass comprehensive 
immigration reform, with a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, has 
left them to depend on DACA. It has also opened the doors to attacks 
from the Trump administration and rightwing extremists.
  During his first term, Donald Trump rescinded DACA and threw this 
critical program into a tailspin, leaving the future of Dreamers and 
their families to depend on court case after court case.
  Can anyone in this Chamber imagine the stress, the fear, the 
uncertainty that they have had to endure all of these years, not 
knowing if they would be separated from their families or not?
  In his second term, Trump has been relentless--relentless--in 
attacking and separating hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families, 
increasing fear and worry in our immigrant communities, including DACA 
recipients.
  If DACA were to end, millions of Dreamers across our Nation would be 
at risk of having to leave the only country they have ever known, the 
only place they have ever called home. Parents would face separation 
from their children, leaving families forever traumatized. And our 
economy and communities would greatly suffer.
  And just imagine--just imagine--the message we would be sending. 
Nevadans who have done everything right since they arrived in our 
State, Nevadans who were brought here as kids through no fault of their 
own and who followed the rules when government asked them to--who 
followed the rules--Nevadans who have graduated college, Nevadans who 
have served in the military, Nevadans who have started businesses in 
our communities, Nevadans who are currently protected could now lose 
the only life they have ever known.
  So it is past time that politicians in Washington stopped using 
Dreamers as a political football and finally passed a law that 
permanently protects them. These hard-working Americans deserve to have 
peace of mind, and they deserve a life without fear.
  I want Dreamers to know they have allies in their corner. As Nevada's 
Senator, I will do everything in my power to protect all of our 
communities and keep families--keep families--together. Since day one 
in the Senate, I have been pushing my colleagues to come together, in a 
bipartisan way, to pass a permanent solution, one that gives Dreamers 
permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship--a pathway to 
citizenship now, now--while we continue to work on comprehensive 
immigration reform that this country so surely needs--surely needs. It 
shouldn't be a partisan issue.
  As long as I am in the Senate, I won't stop fighting for it. I want 
everyone to know that, in the meantime, I will continue to do 
everything in my power to protect DACA and the thousands of Nevadans 
who rely on it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.