HR 5131 · 109th Congress 2005–2007, ended

American Dream Act

Introduced Apr 6, 2006 Originated House Sponsor Lincoln Diaz-Balart R-FL

Latest action · May 24, 2006 Referred to the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedApr 6, 2006
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

American Dream Act - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence.

Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States prior to his or her sixteenth birthday, and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and (4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education, or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma.

Sets forth the conditions for conditional permanent resident status.

Authorizes an alien who has satisfied the appropriate requirements prior to enactment of this Act to petition the Secretary for conditional permanent resident status.

Sets forth requirements respecting: (1) exclusive jurisdiction; (2) confidentiality; (3) fee prohibitions; (4) higher education assistance; and (5) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.

Cosponsors 54

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 6, 2006 to Dec 7, 2006; 12 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-CA	Howard L. Berman	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-MO	Ike Skelton	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-FL	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-IA	James A. Leach	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-CA	Jane Harman	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-CA	Lucille Roybal-Allard	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-PR	Luis G. Fortuno	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-IL	Luis V. Gutierrez	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-FL	Mario Diaz-Balart	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-MN	Martin Olav Sabo	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-PA	Melissa A. Hart	Original	Apr 6, 2006
R-IL	Ray LaHood	Original	Apr 6, 2006
D-TX	Lloyd Doggett		Apr 27, 2006
R-DE	Michael N. Castle		Apr 27, 2006
R-CA	Devin Nunes		May 16, 2006
D-CA	Xavier Becerra		May 16, 2006
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff		Sep 21, 2006
D-TX	Al Green		Sep 21, 2006
D-NY	Anthony D. Weiner		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Bob Filner		Sep 21, 2006
D-TX	Charles A. Gonzalez		Sep 21, 2006
D-NY	Charles B. Rangel		Sep 21, 2006
D-NC	David E. Price		Sep 21, 2006
D-OR	David Wu		Sep 21, 2006
D-NJ	Frank Pallone, Jr.		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	George Miller		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Henry A. Waxman		Sep 21, 2006
D-MA	James P. McGovern		Sep 21, 2006
D-VA	James P. Moran		Sep 21, 2006
D-RI	James R. Langevin		Sep 21, 2006
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky		Sep 21, 2006
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler		Sep 21, 2006
D-FL	Jim Davis		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Linda T. Sánchez		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Lois Capps		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Lynn C. Woolsey		Sep 21, 2006
D-CO	Mark Udall		Sep 21, 2006
D-MA	Martin T. Meehan		Sep 21, 2006
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez		Sep 21, 2006
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva		Sep 21, 2006
D-NJ	Robert E. Andrews		Sep 21, 2006
D-TX	Ruben Hinojosa		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Sam Farr		Sep 21, 2006
D-NV	Shelley Berkley		Sep 21, 2006
D-TX	Silvestre Reyes		Sep 21, 2006
D-NJ	Steven R. Rothman		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Susan A. Davis		Sep 21, 2006
D-ME	Thomas H. Allen		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren		Sep 21, 2006
D-CA	Hilda L. Solis		Sep 29, 2006
D-WI	Gwen Moore		Dec 6, 2006
D-PA	Chaka Fattah		Dec 7, 2006

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Apr 6, 2006
House	Education and Workforce Committee	Referred Apr 6, 2006
	Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee	Referred May 24, 2006

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

May 24, 2006Referred to the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.
Apr 6, 2006Introduced in House
Apr 6, 2006Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
Extensions	Debate and remarks E699	Charles B. Rangel D-NY	May 3, 2006

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
Serial No. 109-56	PAYING FOR COLLEGE: HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER52 pages	Education and Workforce Committee	Sep 1, 2006

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
R43335	Unauthorized Alien Students: Legislation in the 109th and 110th Congresses Archived	Report	Dec 11, 2013

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 2075	DREAM Act of 2005	Related bill	Nov 18, 2005

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to permit States to determine State residency for higher education purposes and to authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain alien students who are long-term United States residents and who entered the United States as children, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: American Dream Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Immigration.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Apr 6, 2006Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.