[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19090]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




INVESTIGATING THE PROSECUTION OF FORMER 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 day 181st day of 
incarceration for two U.S. Border Patrol agents.
  Agents Ramos and Compean were convicted last spring for shooting a 
Mexican drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our 
border into Texas. For almost a year, thousands of American citizens 
and dozens of Members of Congress have asked President Bush to pardon 
these agents. Many Americans are outraged by the President's decision 
to commute the sentence of White House aid Scooter Libby, while at the 
same time he refuses to pardon Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean.
  Scooter Libby, an attorney who understands the laws of this country 
and should know right from wrong was convicted of perjury, obstruction 
of justice and lying to investigators. Mr. Libby, who should have 
served his sentence, did not spend one day in prison.
  Yet two Border Patrol agents with exemplary records who were doing 
their duty to protect the American people from an illegal alien drug 
smuggler are serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in prison. By 
attempting to apprehend an illegal alien drug smuggler, these agents 
were enforcing our laws, not breaking the laws. 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 extremely pleased that Senator Dianne Feinstein will be 
presiding over a full committee hearing tomorrow to examine the details 
of this case. This hearing will provide U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton an 
opportunity to explain to the Senate Judiciary Committee and to the 
American people why this U.S. Attorney's Office in western Texas chose 
to go after law enforcement officers while protecting illegal aliens 
who committed crimes and gave the illegal alien immunity to testify 
against the border agents.
  I want to thank Senator Feinstein for her interest in this case and 
for her leadership in holding hearings to look into this injustice.
  I am also grateful to Chairman John Conyers, who I hope will hold a 
similar hearing on the House side sometime this fall.
  Before I close, I want to say to the families of Border Patrol Agents 
Compean and Ramos that we, the American people, will not forget your 
husbands, your fathers, your brothers, and we will do everything we can 
to see that justice will prevail over an injustice.

                          ____________________