DREAM Act Amendment Dies with Defense Authorization Bill

DREAM Act Amendment Dies with Defense Authorization Bill This afternoon the Senate refused to take up the Defense Authorization Bill (S.3454), and the controversial amendment known as the DREAM Act died with it. Although the Department of Defense (DOD) bill was controversial for several reasons, the debate boiled over last week when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) would offer the DREAM Act (S.729) as an amendment to it.  Many, including FAIR, decried the announcement as pure politics in an election year.  However, before the DREAM Act could be offered as an amendment, the Senate first had to vote to proceed with debate on the DOD bill. That motion required 60 votes to pass.  At around 2:30 p.m. today, the Senate voted on the motion to proceed. The motion failed 56-43. Without a floor debate, Senators Reid and Durbin cannot offer the DREAM Act as an amendment.  This is great news for true immigration reformers! After the motion failed, Senators Reid and Durbin took to the Senate floor to angrily denounce the Senators who voted no.  They accused their colleagues of not having the courage to bring the DREAM Act to a vote and vowed that this would not end the fight to pass this amnesty legislation.  Many political observers feel that the next attempt to pass amnesty legislation will come during the lame-duck session of Congress, which will begin after the election and end before new members take office in January.

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