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The DREAM Act, which has progressed through Congress in starts and stops for close to a decade, again edged closer to a vote Tuesday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he plans to offer it as an amendment to a defense spending bill next week. “I think it is really important that we move forward on this legislation,” he told reporters. Though “I know we can’t do comprehensive immigration reform," he said it might be possible to pass the DREAM Act, which would create a path to permanent residency for college students or members of the U.S. military who have been in the country illegally for at least five years since before age 16. Reid said Monday that he also planned to attach a motion to repeal the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gay and lesbian members of the military to the appropriations bill.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that Reid made the defense spending bill "needlessly controversial" by introducing those issues into the bill. Reid said he had not talked to the White House about pushing ahead on the DREAM Act as part of the defense appropriations bill and did not know if he had the votes for it to pass.
