MR. PRESIDENT, I JOIN MY COLLEAGUE FROM VIRGINIA, AS WELL AS SENATOR DURBIN WHO HAS BEEN 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 DREAM ACT. WE NEED TO TAKE UP THIS BILL. AS SENATOR KAINE JUST NOTED, I ALSO WAS HEARTENED AFTER THE MEETING AND THE WHITE HOUSE, THE FACT THAT THE PRESIDENT UNDERSTANDS, SAID HE UNDERSTANDS THAT WE JUST CAN'T WAIT UNTIL MARCH TO GET THIS DONE, THAT WE NEED TO GET THIS DONE SOON.

FOR ME, THE EASIEST WAY TO DO THIS IS BY PASSING THE DREAM ACT. THE FEDERAL COURT DECISION IN CALIFORNIA YESTERDAY WILL PROVIDE SOME TEMPORARY RELIEF, AS EVERY SINGLE DAY, MORE AND MORE KIDS FALL OUT OF STATUS. THAT SOUNDS 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, WE'RE GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO STAY. AND THEN WITH ONE LITTLE MOMENT AND A SIGNATURE, THAT ALL CHANGED, THEIR LIFE CHANGED. SO IT'S OUR OBLIGATION NOW IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE TO GET THIS DONE. WE'VE ALREADY SEEN THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION'S 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% OF THEM EITHER WORK OR THEY ARE IN SCHOOL. THE AVERAGE AGE THAT THEY WERE BROUGHT TO THIS COUNTRY, 6 1/2 YEARS OLD. AND A FEW MONTHS BACK, I STOOD IN FRONT OF A CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH OUR ARCHBISHOP OF THE TWIN CITIES, ARCHBISHOP HEBDA AND A NUMBER OF HIS PARISHIONERS AND A NUMBER OF THE PRIESTS FROM THAT CHURCH TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANT IN PEOPLE'S LIVES. KIDS BROUGHT OVER THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.

MY FAVORITE EXAMPLE OF A DREAMER, SENATOR KAINE AND MR. PRESIDENT, IS JOSEPH MEDINAH. HE WAS BROUGHT OVER -- DIDN'T KNOW THIS AT THE TIME -- AS A BABY. THEY BROUGHT HIM. HIS PARENTS HAD DIED, AND HE WAS BROUGHT OVER TO SLEEPY EYE, MINNESOTA, WHERE HE WAS RAISED. 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, TO THE ARMY, I WANT TO SIGN UP. THEY SAID WELL, IT TURNS OUT -- I DON'T KNOW WHAT TERM THEY USED BACK THEN, BUT THAT HE WAS UNDOCUMENTED. AS HE EXPLAINED TO ME WHEN I FIRST MET HIM AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 99, AS HE EXPLAINED TO ME BACK THEN, ALL YOU DID WAS GO TO CANADA FOR A DAY, WITH OUR COUNTRY'S OKAY, AND SLEPT IN A HOTEL FOR A NIGHT, WHICH IS WHAT HE DID, AND THEN CAME BACK AND THEN HE WAS MADE LEGAL AND THE ARMY SIGNED HIM UP, AND HE ENDED UP GOING OVER AND SERVING IN THE PACIFIC. HE CAME BACK TO THIS COUNTRY, 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 WHO WANTED TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE, BUT THEY COULDN'T DO IT. THEY DIDN'T HAVE THAT RIGHT STATUS, AND THEY WERE DREAMERS, TOO. THEY HAD BEEN BROUGHT OVER AS YOUNG KIDS. TO ME, THAT JUST BROUGHT IT ALL HOME. THIS WAS A WAR HERO, SOMEONE WHO HAD SERVED OUR COUNTRY, AND THIS IS THE KIND OF PERSON THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE DREAMERS. AND HIS LAST ACTS OF PATRIOTISM AND THE 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.

WELL, WE HAVE NOT REACHED AN AGREEMENT YET ON THIS BILL, BUT THE REPORTS ABOUT THAT BIPARTISAN MEETING ARE HOPEFUL, BUT TIME IS TICKING BY HERE, TIME IS TICKING. AND THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS WITH US. THIS IS NOW ONE OF THESE ISSUES WHERE THE PUBLIC SAYS WHAT ARE THEY DOING, THIS MAKES NO SENSE. NO. RECENT POLL, 86% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT ACTION TO ALLOW DREAMERS TO STAY HERE IN THE UNITED STATES. SO I'M VERY HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN COME TOGETHER ON A BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT. YOU KNOW, THE DREAM ACT IS BASED ON ONE SIMPLE PRINCIPLE, AND THAT IS THAT YOU SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS SET OF PEOPLE, 800,000 PEOPLE THAT CAME OVER HERE NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, THEY SHOULD HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO CALL THIS COUNTRY HOME AS THEY HAVE BEEN DOING FOR SO MANY YEARS.

PASSING THE DREAM ACT ISN'T JUST THE MORALLY RIGHT THING TO DO. IT IS THE ECONOMICALLY RIGHT THING TO DO. ONE RECENT STUDY ESTIMATED THAT ENDING DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS WOULD COST THE COUNTRY OVER $400 BILLION OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS. IT WOULD COST MY STATE MORE THAN $376 MILLION IN ANNUAL REVENUE. WE ARE PROUD TO BE THE HOME OF MORE THAN 6,000 DREAMERS. SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2012, IT'S HELPED, AS I HAVE NOTED, NEARLY 800,000 YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED IN THE U.S. SINCE CHILDHOOD TO GET BETTER LIVES. THINK ABOUT THAT. 800,000 PEOPLE. AS I MENTIONED, 97% OF THEM IN SCHOOL OR IN THE WORKFORCE. 72% OF THEM CURRENTLY IN SCHOOL PURSUING A BACHELOR'S DEGREE OR HIGHER. MORE THAN 100 STUDENTS RIGHT NOW APPLYING TO 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 WHEN THIS GOT DONE, HE WANTED TO PURSUE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM, SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE DONE BEFORE ON A BIPARTISAN BASIS IN THE SENATE, AND I BELIEVE THAT'S WHERE WE NEED TO TURN NOW.

YOU TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMIC SENSE OF THE DREAMERS. LOOK AT OUR COUNTRY OVERALL. 70 OF OUR FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES ARE HEADED BY IMMIGRANTS. 25% OF OUR U.S., U.S. NOBEL LAUREATES WERE BORN IN OTHER COUNTRIES. IMMIGRANTS HAVE BEEN AN ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR THIS COUNTRY. EVERYONE IN THIS CHAMBER CAME FROM SOMEWHERE. THEIR RELATIVES CAME FROM SOMEWHERE. MY GRANDPARENTS ON MY MOM'S SIDE CAME FROM SWITZERLAND. ON MY DAD'S SIDE, MY GREAT GRANDPARENTS CAME FROM SLOVENIA. THEY WORKED IN THE MINES. THEY WORKED SO HARD JUST TO SEND MY DAD TO COLLEGE AND SAVE MONEY IN A COFFEE CAN IN THE BASEMENT. AND I'M HERE TODAY WITH THE GREAT GRANDPARENTS COMING STRAIGHT FROM SLOVENIA, THE GRANDFATHER WORKING IN A MINE, MY DAD GROWING UP THERE AND BEING THE FIRST ONE IN HIS FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE AND GETTING A TWO-YEAR DEGREE AND A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE, AND I LITERALLY STAND HERE ON THE SHOULDERS OF THESE IMMIGRANTS. ON MY MOM'S SIDE, THE SWISS SIDE, MY GRANDPA CAME OVER AND ENDED AT ELLIS ISLAND WHEN HE WAS 18 YEARS OLD, AND THEY HAD REACHED THE CAP, THE CAP ON SWISS IMMIGRANTS. THAT MIGHT SOUND AMUSING, BUT THAT WAS THE CASE. HE THEN SOMEHOW GOT HIMSELF TO CANADA. I THINK HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO LIVE THERE. CAME BACK THROUGH BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE IN OUR COUNTRY. CAME BACK THROUGH, ENDED UP IN WISCONSIN, LIKE ALL GOOD SWISS, WITH MY OTHER RELATIVES ON MY GRANDMA'S SIDE, WORKING AT A CHEESE FACTORY, AND WAS AN ALIEN FOR 20 YEARS. AND HE FINALLY APPLIED FOR CITIZENSHIP WHEN WORLD WAR II WAS BREAKING OUT, AND THAT'S WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THAT, IN FACT, HE MAY BE HAD COME IN THE COUNTRY TWO DIFFERENT WAYS. BUT BACK THEN, HE LISTENED TO HIS STORY, AND THEY GAVE HIM CITIZENSHIP. OTHERWISE, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEPORTED -- I THINK IT WAS THREE WEEKS, YES, THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE U.S. JOINED WORLD WAR II AS A SWISS GERMAN. BUT INSTEAD, HE MARRIED MY GRANDMA BACK THEN, THEY HAD MY MOM AND MY MOM'S BROTHER, AND HERE I AM AGAIN. I AM ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE 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'S WHY, MR. PRESIDENT, I STAND WITH THE SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA, SENATOR KAINE, WITH SENATOR DURBIN, AND SO MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR SO LONG ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE, THE LEADERSHIP ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. LET'S GET THIS DONE, LET'S PASS THE DREAM ACT, AND LET'S NEVER FORGET THAT WE ALL COME FROM SOMEWHERE. THANK YOU.