[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5455]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROTECTING BORDER VIOLATORS

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, being a lawman in the vastness of west Texas 
has always been a rough task. Now it is more difficult because the 
Federal Government has taken the side of the lawbreaker over the 
lawman.
  Deputy Gilmer Hernandez of Edwards County, Texas, was recently on 
patrol in the darkness of the night in Rocksprings, Texas, when he 
spotted a van violating Texas traffic laws. He pulls the van over and 
notices numerous people lying down on the floor.
  Then without warning, the driver suddenly drives off and tries to run 
over Deputy Hernandez. Hernandez shoots out the tires of the van in 
self-defense. The other illegals jump out and take off.
  The Texas Rangers do a thorough investigation and clear Deputy 
Hernandez of any wrongdoing, but the Mexican Government arrogantly 
demands the Federal Government prosecute Hernandez for using his gun, 
and the Feds do exactly that.
  Hernandez is convicted, and now he is in jail awaiting sentencing by 
a Federal judge, all because he did his job. Our government ought to 
support the border protectors like Hernandez and prosecute the border 
violators. Why is our Federal Government taking the wrong side in the 
border war?
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________