[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H5932-H5933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ONE MORE PEACE OFFICER SHOT BY ONE MORE ILLEGAL

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

[[Page H5933]]

  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, on Memorial Day, while Americans were 
celebrating the holiday, Deputy Gerald Barnes of the Harris County 
Sheriff's Department in Houston was celebrating just being alive.
  Responding to a call from a nightclub, the 15-year veteran from the 
Sheriff's Department came upon two men arguing. Oscar Perez had pulled 
a gun on Miguel Soto and began randomly firing his pistol.
  When Deputy Barnes arrived, he told Perez to drop the gun. Perez 
refused and shot at Deputy Barnes numerous times. One bullet struck him 
in the chest above his bulletproof vest. Then after kidnapping Soto, 
whom Perez later shot, Perez sped off into the night. He was later 
captured. Oscar Perez had been illegally in the United States for 
years.
  According to reports, the last three police officers shot in Harris 
County, Texas, were all shot by people illegally in the United States.
  Deputy Barnes will recover, but Perez shouldn't have been in this 
country. The Federal Government's refusal to secure the border is 
allowing criminals like Perez to invade this country and commit crimes. 
Instead of promoting amnesty, the government should protect the border.
  And that's just the way it is.

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