Washington, DC – Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, released the following statement urging his colleagues to support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM Act. 

“Washington needs to stop playing politics with our broken immigration system and start working together to solve a problem that has been consumed by heated political rhetoric for far too long.   The DREAM Act is not a silver bullet for our broken immigration system, but it will force us to actually deal with the complex issue of comprehensive reform instead of just pointing fingers and somehow hoping the issue goes away. 

“This debate is about whether a child who has excelled in the classroom has the opportunity to attend college and contribute to our economy.  It’s about whether a child whose only home is our country can have the opportunity to serve America in the Armed Forces. And it’s about whether it makes good fiscal sense to have our government invest in the education of our youth and generate over $2 billion in savings through new revenues when these young people enter our workforce.

“With the DREAM Act, Washington has the opportunity to do the right thing – for these kids and our country.  I will vote yes for the DREAM Act, and I strongly urge my colleagues to do the same.”

The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the DREAM Act, when combined with other savings, will reduce the deficit by over $2.2 billion over the next ten years.