[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           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 of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today is the 128th day 
since two U.S. Border Patrol agents entered Federal prison. Agents 
Ramos and Compean were convicted in Federal courts for shooting a 
convicted drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our 
border into Texas.
  These two law enforcement officers, who have each given years of 
their life in service to this Nation, never should have been sent to 
prison. By attempting to apprehend an illegal alien drug smuggler, 
these agents were simply doing their job to protect the American 
people.
  Although it is clear that the agents fired in self-defense, the U.S. 
Attorney's Office prosecuted the agents and granted fully immunity to 
the drug smuggler, who claimed he was unarmed.
  This case is a black mark on the American judicial system. Despite 
countless pleas from the American people and Members of Congress, the 
President has refused to pardon these men. Every day and every hour 
that these agents spend behind bars is a travesty of justice. Instead 
of crafting deals to grant mass amnesty to illegal aliens who have 
broken the law, our government needs to get serious about border 
security and get on the right side of the law.
  The prosecutor of this case gave an illegal alien drug smuggler 
immunity for his crime, free medical care and issued him a border 
crossing card to enter the United States of America. The two agents 
received sentences of 11 and 12 years in prison and now spend 23 hours 
a day in isolated prison cells. These men are not criminals.
  Our government needs to wake up and stop sending the wrong message to 
our Border Patrol agents and law enforcement officers who face bullets 
in the line of duty and risk their lives to protect the American 
people.
  Many of us in Congress are concerned about the Federal prosecutor in 
this case and his decision to bring criminal charges against these 
border agents. There are legitimate legal questions about how this 
prosecution was initiated and how the U.S. Attorney's Office proceeded 
in this case.
  I am hopeful that this Congress will soon hold hearings to 
investigate the prosecution of these agents, because it is time for 
justice to prevail over injustice.

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