Speech #CREC-2017-01-20-pt1-PgS356-3_t0

Robert Michael Kelly, 29, was killed in southern Afghanistan while leading his platoon on a combat patrol when he stepped on a concealed bomb. He is the highest ranking military officer to lose a child in combat in Afghanistan or Iraq. I am sure that I will disagree with General Kelly on some occasions, but he does not have a track record of extreme statements on immigration or the other issues that will be under his jurisdiction as Homeland Security Secretary. I know that some of my Democratic colleagues voted against General Kelly's nomination because he refused to publicly commit to keeping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--DACA--program in place and to protecting DACA recipients from deportations. Reasonable people can disagree, and I respect my colleagues who are voting against General Kelly's nomination, but I don't believe this justifies opposing this nomination. There is no one in the Senate who is more committed than I to protecting the DACA program and no one who has worked harder to protect the young immigrants who are eligible for this program. Seven years ago, I was the first Member of Congress to ask President Obama to establish the DACA program. DACA is based on the DREAM Act, legislation I first introduced 16 years ago that would give undocumented students who grew up in this country a chance to earn their citizenship. The young people who are eligible for DACA and the DREAM Act are known as DREAMers. Over the years, I have met hundreds of DREAMers and I have come to the floor more than 100 times to tell these DREAMers' stories, which make the case for DACA and the DREAM Act better than I ever could. Last week, General Kelly came to my office to meet with me. We spent most of our time discussing DACA and the DREAMers. General Kelly promised me that, if he was confirmed, he would be a part of the discussions about the future of DACA. He said that he felt strongly that DREAMers should be protected from deportation and that he would fight for that view. General Kelly also committed that he would come to Chicago with me to meet with a group of DREAMers and to visit an immigration detention center, so that he would understand the human impact of the laws he will be enforcing. Based on these assurances, I am pleased to be able to support General Kelly's nomination. But let me be clear. If General Kelly supports an effort by the new administration to rescind DACA or deport DREAMers, I will fight him tooth and nail. I congratulate General Kelly on his confirmation, and I look forward to working with him on the critical issues under his jurisdiction, especially the future of DACA and the DREAMers.