Harry Reid to Push Dream Act, Gay Rights Measures in Lame Duck

[Confederate Kahanist]

http://conservativeactionalerts.com/blog_post/show/1529

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced late Wednesday that he will bring two controversial measures up for a vote in the lame-duck session of Congress, a move that could be both measures' last chance of passage before Republicans take control of the House in January.

The first bill, known as the DREAM Act, would give young illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they complete two years of college or two years in the military. To qualify, they also must have come to the country before the age of 16 and have been in the United States longer than five years.

The DREAM Act become a top priority for the Latino community this year as it became more and more clear that comprehensive immigration reform would not be politically viable, even with a Democratically controlled Congress. As Reid campaigned for re-election, he promised immigration activists that he would bring the DREAM Act to the floor for a vote this year.

"If there is a bipartisan bill that makes sense for our country economically, from a national security perspective and one that reflects American values, it is the DREAM Act," Reid said in a statement Wednesday night. "Last time we sought to bring up this bill, all Republicans blocked our effort, even though many have been supporters of the DREAM Act in the past. I hope that our Republican colleagues will join me, Sen. Durbin and Democrats in passing this important piece of legislation, now that we have a stand-alone version and that the political season is over."

Reid's announcement that the DREAM Act will be a stand-alone bill means that he has stripped it from the Defense Authorization bill, the annual legislation that sets policy for the Pentagon, which Reid announced will also come up for a vote in the lame-duck session. Just before the November elections, Reid had grafted the DREAM Act onto the DOD bill, which Republicans complained made the measure needlessly controversial.

Even without the immigration rider tacked onto it, however, the defense bill remains in danger of a filibuster because it includes language to begin the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell," the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the top Republican on the defense committee, has led the charge against the bill and blocked it in August and October when it came up for consideration, calling a change to DADT before the release of a military survey of service members "disgraceful."

Although early leaked versions of the report indicate that "Don't ask, don't tell" could be lifted with minimal disruption to the military, McCain has insisted that the final report be released and the Senate hold hearings on the findings before making a significant change to Pentagon policy.

But Reid said Wednesday he does not plan to wait. "Our Defense Department supports repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell' as a way to build our all-volunteer armed forces. We need to repeal this discriminatory policy so that any American who wants to defend our country can do so."