Senate Delays Dream Act Vote

While the U.S. Senate was supposed to vote on the Dream Act today, the vote has been postponned until a vote can be talen on the controversial tax cut compromise worked out between the GOP and President Obama.  The Dream Act, which passed the House yesterday, grant legal status to undocumented students brought to this country by their undocumented parents as well as members of the military.  These children are American in just about every way but legal status.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put the Dream Act cloture vote on the schedule to see if there’s the 60 votes needed to avoid a Senate filibuster, but the votes are not there and the Republican senators have indicated they won’t vote on anything until there is an agreement on extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone.

Senator Reid saved the Dream Act by using a parliamentary procedure to postpone the vote, asking colleagues to vote on the version of the Dream Act passed by the House. By doing so, the Senate can come back to the Dream Act, but it looks unlikely it will pass this year.