[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 128 (Saturday, August 4, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  POETIC JUSTICE FOR RAMOS AND COMPEAN

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, when I was elected to Congress, I had an idea 
of how things worked in Washington. But after just a short while, I 
realized commonsense thinking wasn't exactly the ``norm.'' In fact, it 
was going to take some creative thinking to get things done. For over a 
year now, I have been one of the ones leading the charge to free Border 
Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. I think our Government 
prosecuted them for doing their job and gave a drug smuggler a free 
pass. After trying things the old way--I decided it was time for some 
Poetic Justice, time to turn the tables and put a new twist on an old 
idea.
  Last week, I, along with Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, sponsored an 
amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill to 
withhold funding from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to incarcerate 
Ramos and Compean. This effort to free these American heroes was 
supported across party lines and passed overwhelmingly by a voice vote.
  Since repeated efforts to have them pardoned or their sentences 
commuted have gone unrecognized, I set out to find other ways for 
justice to prevail. By withholding funding to the Prison System 
specifically for the incarceration of Ramos and Compean, we have ``tied 
the hands that fund them.'' This does not change the outcome of their 
sentence, but it will allow them to remain free while their case makes 
its way through the appeals process.
  As anyone knows that has followed this case, the administration has 
been less than supportive of the idea of a pardon or commutation. The 
idea of attaching this onto an appropriations bill is that the 
President isn't likely to veto the entire spending bill funding Federal 
law enforcement agencies because of this one amendment. Sometimes a 
little creative thinking allows you to beat them at their own game and 
save taxpayer money in the process.
  As a former judge, I believe that it is important to uphold the law 
and I rarely argue with a jury's decision. However, the jury in this 
case wasn't privy to all of the facts and these two men were found 
guilty based on a partial presentation of the whole truth. You see, the 
prosecution's star witness was an illegal drug dealer who was fleeing 
Ramos and Compean after he brought in a million dollars worth of dope. 
The jury knew that, but what they didn't know was that he was given 
full immunity for that crime and an unlimited-use visa to come and go 
across the border unchecked anytime he pleased. And most important, 
another fact the U.S. attorney's office fought to keep the jury from 
hearing, was that during the trial he used that ``get-out-of-jail-free-
card'' to bring in another load of dope. This is all information that 
the jury needed to know to judge the credibility of the witness.
  This was the first time in history that Congress has intervened in 
such a way in a criminal case and it was not something that any Member 
of Congress took lightly. The precedent we are setting in Congress is 
that we stand for justice and I don't believe that this is something 
that we are likely to see happen again. Both Houses of Congress have 
investigated every aspect of this case and leaders from both parties 
have appealed to the President to take action--that alone is a unique 
occurrence.
  If the President can spare Scooter Libby from prison, I think it is 
only appropriate to extend the same consideration to our lawmen 
fighting to secure our borders. Until then, we in Congress will 
continue to do our part to see that we right this wrong any way we can. 
After all, justice is the one thing we should always find.
  And that's just the way it is.

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