Rep. Suzanne M. Kosmas (D-FL)

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Rep. Suzanne M. Kosmas represents the 24th District in Florida. She is a member of the Democratic caucus who was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the 2008 election cycle, defeating her Republican opponent and the incumbent in the election, Tom Feeney, by a wide margin of the popular vote. Before entering the House of Representatives, she served as a member of the Florida state legislature until she reached her term-limit in office.

In her 2008 campaign against Feeney, Kosmas campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility, support for veterans, and openness and accountability in government. She is also interested in tax reform, the promotion of economic recovery following the collapse of 2008, health-insurance reform, the promotion of NASA, and education. Her website contains no information about her stance on either Comprehensive Immigration Reform or the DREAM Act. Moreover, she has very little to analyze as far as her voting and legislative record goes. The most notable legislation she has thus far voted for includes the Stimulus Bill and the final Health Care Reform Bill that was passed through the Senate in late 2009 and through the House of Representatives in March 2010.

Because Rep. Kosmas is relatively new to the House of Representatives, her stance on the DREAM Act and CIR is still very unclear. She initially voted against an amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), which was intended to bar undocumented individuals from participating in the proposed federal health care plan under consideration at the time. On the other hand, in 2010 she ultimately did vote for the Senate bill that contained a similar amendment, and she has also co-sponsored a 2009 bill (H.R. 662) to reauthorize the E-Verify program.

Despite that Rep. Kosmas's views on immigration reform are still somewhat unclear, she has come out as a strong advocate of educational reform at the K-12 level and of making higher education more affordable and open to all. "I believe," she states on her website, "that we need to make higher education more affordable so every student has the opportunity to go to college." Because she holds these views toward education, it is not unreasonable to think she might ultimately come to support the DREAM Act.

Until there is a vote in Congress on either the DREAM Act or CIR, Rep. Kosmas's stance on immigration reform may very well remain uncertain. Nevertheless, she has never given any indication that she was adamantly opposed to considering immigration reform and there is no reason to believe she would be opposed to voting in favor of fixing the immigration system if a bill was put before the Congress. Thus, she would probably be a good target to pursue for co-sponsorship of the DREAM Act and to lobby for immigration reform--if for no other reason than to clarify what her stance is on these issues.

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