This morning C-SPAN2 is airing testimony from the U.S. Senate on the DREAM Act. Listening to GOP Senators Alabama's Jeff Sessions and now Wyoming's John Barrasso, it doesn't look that encouraging.
But the bill was passed in the (still) heavily Democratic House of Representatives yesterday, 216-198. Advocates are hailing that vote as the first time since 1986 that any pro-immigrant legislation has made it through a chamber of Congress.
In a nutshell, The DREAM Act would allow undocumented youth an earned path to citizenship—they must have a clean criminal record and commit two years to the military or higher education and meet a host of other requirements.
Thirty-eight House Democrats voted against the bill, and eight Republicans voted for it, including three from South Florida, Illeana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, and Mario Diaz-Balart.
Tampa area Democrat Kathy Castor also voted for the bill. This is what she said on the floor of the House last night:
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2010.