http://conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/1635Apparently undeterred by Friday’s 9.8 percent unemployment shocker, Democrats in both the House and the Senate say they will push for floor votes this week on a DREAM Act that opponents warn will add untold billions to the federal deficit.
Republicans aiming to keep the focus on cutting taxes and boosting employment are expected to oppose the measure.
Majority Senate Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois predicts the act will come up for a vote this week.
“Sen. [Harry] Reid is going to call it,” he told The Hill.
Asked whether he had the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and shut off debate on the bill, Durbin hedged: “I’m working on it, talking to members.”
House Democrats, meanwhile, are launching their own plans this week for the DREAM Act legislation.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said House Democrats, who spent much of last week debating a symbolic vote against extending the Bush tax cuts that they knew was dead-on-arrival in the Senate, ran out of time to calll for a vote on the DREAM Act.
But he told The Hill that lame-duck Democrats will bring the bill up for a vote in the week ahead.
Several blue dog Democrats in the House say they will oppose the measure, which provides a pathway to citizenship for young undocumented workers who either attend college or serve in the military.
The White House is urging Congress to pass the bill.
Topic: Democrats Mount Last-Ditch Push of Costly DREAM Act (Read 1277 times)