Heavy coverage across several media formats continued today on the Senate hearing on the DREAM Act, with much of it focused on the testimony of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in favor of the measure. The New York Times (6/29, Smith) reports that Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin (D) addressed "an overflowing audience of students and supporters at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee to discuss bringing the legislation known as Dream Act back before Congress." The piece notes that Durbin hopes the Senate will pass the measure "with help from key members of the Obama administration, including [Napolitano and Duncan], both of whom testified in support of the bill Tuesday." The Times quotes Duncan, "'It goes against our national interest to deny these students a college education,' Mr. Duncan said, predicting that their personal enrichment will help supply America's need for citizens who can out-innovate competitors."
Noting that the hearing was the "first ever for the decade-old bill that would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children,"
Politico(6/29, Kim, Epstein) reports on the intense focus among the media and stakeholders, noting that Duncan "couched his argument for the bill in economic terms Tuesday, pointing to a Congressional Budget Office report that says the law would generate an extra $1.4 billion in government revenue. 'They have deep roots here and are loyal to our country because in any event, this is the only home they have ever known,' Duncan said." Meanwhile, Napolitano "spoke to the question of national security." Politico quotes her, "These people do not pose a risk to public safety. They do not pose a risk to national security." Politico notes that Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) argued that the "DREAM Act served only as a band-aid for a larger wound of a broken immigration system."
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