Hoyer Discusses the Need to Protect DREAMers and Bring the DREAM Act to the Floor on CNBC

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss how Democrats are urging Republicans to bring the DREAM Act to the Floor. Below is a video and a transcript of his remarks:

Click here to watch the video. 

“The Democrats are not euphoric today. One of the reasons we're not euphoric is because earlier this week 800,000 people, young people, were put at risk by the Attorney General, apparently at the request of the President, saying that they were not going to pursue DACA. These are children of America, really, who came here at a very early age. It is interesting that even Rush Limbaugh said yesterday or the day before, nobody wants to kick these children out of America.”

“The President said, look, we have to act on this and he said quote, ‘we have no choice.’ Obviously, Senator Graham, Senator Rubio, Senator Hatch have spoken out on behalf of this, so we have a lot of very significant Republican leaders who have spoken out on this. Speaker Ryan has spoken out on this. I am very hopeful, and I'll be euphoric or happy at least, when we come to an agreement in the next, hopefully few weeks – not wait the six months, not keep people in limbo for six months, not keep the economy in limbo for six months. The business community has overwhelmingly – Chamber of Commerce, high-tech companies – overwhelmingly come out and said this is bad policy and we need to extend and give permanent relief to children who were brought here as children who, through no conscious effort on their own.”

“…The earlier we act, particularly in light of the overwhelming, overwhelming numbers – 84% of Democrats, 70 plus percent of Independents, 60 plus percent of Republicans all believe, as Rush Limbaugh said, nobody wants to kick these kids out of the country and we need to give them some sense of stability and assurance that they're not going to be kicked out of the country. This is the country they know, they grew up here, they went to school here, they speak this language, and they're working in the economy. As a matter of fact, to kick them out, people say, is going to be about a $400 billion dollar plus hit on the economy over ten years. So it’s the smart thing to do... I'm going to be urging Leader McCarthy and Speaker Ryan to bring a bill to the Floor, the DREAMer bill to the Floor, as soon as possible so Congress can pass legislation to give certainty. I believe the majority of votes are on the House Floor, and Senator Graham believes they are on the Senate Floor.”