Last week, while I was on a North Atlantic cruise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) proposed an amendment to the defense authorization bill he calls the Dream Act. If passed, it would be the Nightmare Act for our national defense.

The so-called “Dream Act” would reward illegal aliens who violated federal law by sneaking into the United States before age 16, and avoided arrest for five years, by allowing them to get a green card after they either go to college for two years (at in-state tuition rates) or serve in the military for two years. In a blog he wrote on The Hill website September 14, Reid says the passage of this bill would also “overturn the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ rule for our armed forces.”

He should have named it the “Illegal Alien and Homosexual Dream Act.” According to Sen. Reid, the bill “will ensure that millions of children who grow up as Americans will be able to get the education they need to contribute to our economy,” and “will finally send a loud and clear message that everyone who steps up to serve our country should and will be welcomed regardless of sexual orientation.”

This should end any doubt about which political party has total disdain for our military.

Why not attach a bill that only allows illegal aliens who are homosexuals to join the military? What’s the difference? Such a bill would be as distasteful to the military as Sen. Reid’s Dream Act.

What Sen. Reid and his liberal friends don’t understand is that Mexican nationals are not the only illegal aliens residing in this country. Half of all illegal aliens are “visa overstays” from all over the world. They come to this country, and when their visas expire, merely meld into the population. Does his bill exclude radicalized Muslims from joining the military? Doesn’t Sen. Reid realize that al-Qaida is probably identifying operatives in this country right now to be some of the first to apply for the armed forces if this bill is passed? Doesn’t Sen. Reid know that the armed services leadership is firmly against changing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy because of its effect on morale and discipline?

How does an illegal alien pass the required background check to join the armed forces if he is here illegally? How does an illegal alien document when he first violated U.S. immigration law other than showing school report cards for the past five years where he or she received undeserved free education at taxpayers’ expense? If an illegal alien applying for the armed forces cannot pass the battery of aptitude tests given, does that then make him subject to arrest for being in the country illegally? Or will the recruiter be required instead to refer him to a college admissions counselor?

Sen. Reid views this bill as a “lite” version of comprehensive immigration reform. If he had his way, he would grant all illegal aliens amnesty and give them a voter registration card already checked with his party’s affiliation. This is Sen. Reid’s Hail Mary pass – a last-gasp attempt to reward illegal aliens with citizenship before November’s election in order to keep his party alive.

Sen. Reid’s bill illustrates his party’s definition of enhancing national security. Sen. John Kerry once said that if you didn’t get high scores on your SATs, then you might end up in Iraq. He also said that soldiers in Iraq were “terrorizing” innocent women and children. This is what many liberal elitist think about soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who join the military to protect this country.

Congress should not subject the armed forces to a social engineering experiment. The majority leader should do everything he can to fund and unite military members so they will continue to be the world’s more formidable fighting force. Instead, he thinks up ways to pass a hugely unpopular amendment by attaching it to a defense appropriation bill that all Republicans would normally support.

Is there any wonder why this Congress has the lowest approval ratings ever recorded?

Gregory D. Lee is an army reserve officer. His opinions are his own, and do not necessary reflect those of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army. Reach him through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.

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