From the debate on a bill to allow children of immigrants who attend Connecticut high schools for four years and then graduate to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities - transcript of the Connecticut House of Representatives - May 17, 2007:

REP. KEHOE: (31st)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise to support this Amendment. I had not planned to speak today and when I first heard of this Bill, I didn't know necessarily which way I would vote on it, but having heard the debate and having spoken to people in support of the Bill, I feel very strongly that this Bill should pass.

We've been talking through many bills here about the need for the education, the need for improving having a workforce in the future to fill the jobs that may now go unfilled because of a lack of a skilled and educated workforce. And wherever they're going to come from, these are the generations that are going to do it.

But what mostly compels me to speak today is to follow on to what Representative Giannaros is talking about, is that we are really here today talking about children. These are not the parents. These are not the parents who may have decided to come here illegally or to stay here illegally.

These are the children who get up every day, go to school, play with their friends, are on soccer teams, that someone suggested that, surprise, that they would not know that they were illegal. Well, there are people who find out when they're adults that they were adopted, that don't know.

This is not something that parents necessarily share with children. And I could very easily understand where, when the college application time comes, that children learn, gee, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're not going to qualify for in-state tuition at UConn, even though you could get in there.

Or you're not going to qualify for these other places because we have a secret, or we have a story that we're going to share with you now.

So, as the expression goes, to slightly paraphrase it, I don't think we should bring on to the children the problems of the adults. These are people who are not going to get scholarships.

By virtue of being admitted establishing that they are serious students, that they're seeking to better their lives, that they're intending to work hard, and I think that we should do what we can to facilitate it.

We will, perhaps, never know what positive we bring to a student's life and to society's benefit when we allow a student that would otherwise not go to college to go.

But we will surely know what problems we will bring to society by those who might otherwise have gone, but who don't and never get the chance again to go to college. So I would urge support and passage of this Amendment.