May, 11 2011, 11:26am EDT
DREAM Act Reintroduced In Congress
Bill Would Help Promote Fairness And Equality In Access To Higher Education, Says ACLU
WASHINGTON
The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the reintroduction in the Senate of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a bill that promotes fair access to higher education for all high school students, regardless of immigration status. The DREAM Act, reintroduced today by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and 31 co-sponsors, came close to passage in the previous Congress, passing in the House and falling just five votes short of the 60 required to move forward in the Senate. The DREAM Act is also expected to be introduced today in the House by Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) with bipartisan support.
"Congress has a second chance to make the right choice where the last Congress failed and pass the DREAM Act, a bill that would help thousands of bright, talented students reach their full potential," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "The DREAM Act is a quintessentially American bill that will allow motivated young people to secure a better future for themselves and their families by contributing to the U.S. economy and American institutions, and we urge Congress to pass it."
The DREAM Act would provide affordable post-secondary education and military service opportunities for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, have lived here for at least five years and have graduated from high school. The DREAM Act has the support of President Obama and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as countless other public officials, military and business leaders and educators. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has underscored the DREAM Act's benefits for military recruitment.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."
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"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
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What actually threatens American workers?\n\u274c Anti-union, anti-worker propaganda like this\n\ud83d\udcb0 Corps that put profits over people\n\u26d1\ufe0f Safety standards not being met\n\n@GovAbbott & @GovernorKayIvey sound more like corporate lobbyists than governors here. @UAW backs American workers!— (@)
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