Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Announces DREAM Act as Amendment to Defense Authorization

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, announced today that he intends to bring the DREAM Act up for a vote next week as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.

John Stanton of Roll Call has the full story up at Reid Will Add Immigration Measure to Defense Authorization. Senate Majority Leader Reid, long a proponent of the measure emphasized the importance of passing the legislation.

The Dream Act would provide a pathway to citizenship for children in the country illegally who serve in the military or go to college. The Nevada Democrat called the measure “utterly important.”

He also acknowledged the road blocks that the DREAM Act faced:

“Those Republicans we had in the last Congress have left us,” Reid said, adding that it is nevertheless important to move the smaller Dream Act now.

“We have huge numbers of our military who are Hispanic. I think it is very important for us to move forward on this legislation,” he said.

The vote is expected next week, we will bring you more as it develops.