Virginia Bishop David C. Jones July 12 represented the Episcopal Church at a press conference on Capitol Hill called by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) to announce the upcoming DREAM (Act) Sabbath.

"The DREAM Act points to a moral good -- access to education. Young people, having graduated from high school and having done no wrong, should not be barred from access to college loans, grants and scholarships simply because of the actions of their parents," said Jones in an e-mail sent to Episcopal News Service following the press conference. They are, like their classmates, inheritors of the American Dream. They should not be denied opportunity. The DREAM Act opens the door to that opportunity."

The DREAM Act 2011 -- Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors -- is bipartisan legislation that would grant "conditional permanent resident" status to students who entered the United States at age 15 or younger and who have maintained "good moral character" upon acceptance to college, graduation from a U.S. high school, or being awarded a GED in the United States.

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