DREAM Act

The hourglass is running out for House Democrats as the final congressional session, known as the lame duck period, will polish off the controversial 111th Congress.

Typically, the lame duck period has been a session many elected officials have written off. Party power shifts hands, and the public turns its interest to what the new majority might do during it’s first few weeks in office.

There will be no exception in 2011. The new Speaker of the House, John Boehner(R-Ohio), and the rest of the GOP plan to begin their “Pledge to America” by repealing the much scrutinized health care system the Obama administration passed in March 2010.

Eric Cantor, Virginia’s 7th District representative and the House’s new Republican Majority Leader, has also been said to devise a new schedule, allowing two-week congressional sessions followed by a week back in the respective district.

These strategies have barely caught the public’s eye because during the next four weeks, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid still control the Congress.

Therefore, there’s a chance to sneak in a few more bills through the system before it’s time to hand the gavel across the aisle.

What’s on the agenda? Mirroring a bitter sibling rivalry, both sides yet again find themselves at odds on what should be on the radar during the next month.

While all attention settled on the fiscally driven health care bill last year, Democrats have chosen to align their focus towards the DREAM Act.

The Act is a more socialized measure that once was tacked onto 2011’s Defense Authorization Act but stalled due to bipartisan support. Republicans, however, believe extending the Bush tax cuts should be a top priority.

There are far more issues on the congressional agenda, though, when it comes to what looks attainable for the current Congress and administration. The DREAM Act should break away from the pack because it initiates opportunities and further renews the foundations this country established years ago.

It’s hard to understand why Republican opponents express such opposition for those who have practically grown up within the country’s borders.

According to reports, their claims come down to diminishing education opportunities, scholarship funding and federal loans for current kids who earned their way by a natural birthright.

It’s an argument only extending past their political ties because if there was extensive research on the bill, voting against it would be un-American.

Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) carefully outlined the program, ensuring the bill’s credibility to both parties.

Participants must have lived in the country for five consecutive years, have entered the country before the age of 16 and have graduated from an U.S. high school or received a GED equivalent.

The question should not be why, but how, can we make this possible for new Americans.

It’s speculated that the DREAM Act will be added onto a bill providing naturalization for Haitian orphans, which should only gain political credibility and bipartisan approval — a step both parties need to take for the beginning of this new year.


E-mail: dreander@indiana.edu