[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24971]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  UNJUST 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 247 of 
incarceration for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents Ramos 
and Compean were convicted in March of 2006 for shooting a Mexican drug 
smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our border into 
Texas. These agents have now been in prison for more than 8 months. 
Since the agents' conviction, thousands of American citizens and dozens 
of Members of Congress have asked President Bush to pardon these two 
men.
  Mr. Speaker, many in this country are disappointed that the prison 
sentence of Scooter Libby was committed, while these two law 
enforcement officers are still in prison. Mr. Libby did not spend one 
day in prison, yet two decorated 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 in prison. 
By attempting to apprehend an illegal alien drug smuggler, these agents 
were enforcing our laws, not breaking the laws.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Judiciary Chairman John Conyers for his 
concern and interest in this case. I also want to thank Foreign Affairs 
Subcommittee Chairman Bill Delahunt who, prior to the August recess, 
held a hearing to examine the Mexican Government's influence in this 
case. I am hopeful that Chairman John Conyers will see to it that the 
House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing within the next 30 to 45 
days to fully examine this case.
  While the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on this case in 
July 2007, additional questions remain about how this prosecution was 
initiated and how the U.S. Attorney's Office proceeded in this case. 
Since that time, it has become clear that not only did the prosecution 
prevent the jury from hearing evidence that the smuggler brought a 
second load of drugs across our border, but this smuggler was also 
given free access to our country during and after the second smuggling 
incident.
  The American people want to know why did the U.S. Attorney's Office 
continue to produce these border agents even after the credibility of 
the drug smuggler was shattered. This is a question that U.S. Attorney 
Johnny Sutton needs to answer. By shedding light on the questionable 
actions of the prosecution in this case, I am hopeful that this gross 
miscarriage of justice can be corrected.
  And I want to say to the families of Border Patrol agents Compean and 
Ramos that this Congress is not going to forget this injustice; and 
we're going to turn this injustice to justice for these two men. They 
deserve it. God bless them and their families.
  And may God bless our men and women in uniform, and may God continue 
to bless America.

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