[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 10, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H7991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   UNJUST PROSECUTION OF FORMER U.S. BORDER PATROL AGENTS RAMOS AND 
                                COMPEAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I met with Monica Ramos, the wife 
of imprisoned U.S. border patrol agent Ignacio Ramos. I also met with 
her father, Mr. Joe Loya.
  As the Members of this House are aware, in February of 2006, Agents 
Ramos and Compean were convicted of shooting and wounding a Mexican 
drug smuggler who brought $1 million worth of marijuana across our 
border into Texas. The two agents were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in 
prison respectively. They have been in Federal prison, in solitary 
confinement, for 595 days.
  Mr. Speaker, I continue to be distressed by the actions of U.S. 
Attorney Johnny Sutton and the prosecutors in this case.
  Like thousands of Americans across the country, I was extremely 
disappointed by the ruling announced on July 28, 2008, by the Fifth 
Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court affirmed all convictions except 
those for tampering with an official proceeding, but this case is not 
closed.

                              {time}  2000

  A conviction secured on the testimony of a known drug smuggler should 
not stand. The same drug smuggler who told the Ramos and Compean jury 
that he did not carry a gun the day of the shooting also told the jury 
he was just a one-time offender who needed money for his sick mother. 
Since the agents' conviction, however, the Mexican drug smuggler was 
convicted for additional smuggling offenses. His testimony against the 
agents has been proven completely unreliable.
  Those of us who have urged a pardon for Ramos and Compean will 
continue to support them in their future legal appeals, and we will 
work tirelessly to ensure that the miscarriage of justice is corrected. 
The details of this case deserve an unbiased review by the U.S. 
Department of Justice. I have also asked John Conyers, chairman of the 
House Judiciary Committee, to hold hearings to examine the prosecution 
of these agents who were doing their job to protect our border.
  Questions surrounding the prosecution of this case deserve to be 
answered. For example, why was not the jury allowed to hear crucial 
evidence that the smuggler was a repeated offender? And why did the 
prosecutor charge the agents under a statute that was intended for 
violent criminals carrying guns, not for law enforcement officers 
acting in the line of duty?
  Mr. Speaker, nothing can erase the suffering these agents have 
undergone and the months they have spent in prison in solitary 
confinement away from their families, but I want the families of Ramos 
and Compean to know that my colleagues on both sides of the political 
aisle and I will continue to do all we can to see this miscarriage of 
justice corrected. It is my hope and prayer that one day soon these two 
heros will be home with their families.
  Mr. Speaker, I close by asking God to continue to bless our men and 
women in uniform and their families. And I ask God to please continue 
to bless the families of agents Ramos and Compean. And I ask God to 
continue to bless America.

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