Speech #1090118603

I think that is the only sensible way to approach this. If we dont start with that possibility. that a person here who wants to call America home permanently can reach that goal legally. what will bring that person out of the shadows? If a year from now or 2 years from now there are still millions of Americans whom we dont know by name. by address or by occupation. we will not have addressed the problems with immigration. and America will not be as secure as it should be. The process we are putting together will bring these people out of the shadows. into a process where they are disclosed. known to the Government and all others. if they are to stay in the United States. I think that is the only way to approach this sensibly. There is another part of the bill which my colleague from Alabama addressed which is near and dear to me personally. It is a piece of legislation which I introduced several years ago with Senator HATCH of Utah. reintroduced recently with Senator HAGEL of Nebraska. a bipartisan bill known as the DREAM Act. This part of the bill addresses those who are minors. who were in the United States undocumented. There is one thing we all should agree on: Adults who enter our country illegally are responsible for their actions. They should be held accountable. That is what the bill does. But undocumented children are different. and I think they should be treated differently. Unlike undocumented adults. children brought here by their parents are too young to understand the consequences of their actions. We are not a country that punishes children for the mistakes of their parents. Listen to what the Supreme Court said in Plyler v. Doe. and I quote: Those who elect to enter our territory by stealth and in violation of our law should be prepared to bear the consequences. including. but not limited to. deportation. But the children of those illegal entrants are not comparably situated. They can affect neither their parents conduct nor their own status. Now. unlike many undocumented adults and all foreign student visa holders. these young people have lived in this country for most of their lives. It is the only home they know. They have assimilated into American culture.