[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       INCREASED BORDER SECURITY

  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, over the weekend, a tragic 
incident took place along our Nation's southern border. On January 20, 
2008, Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was attempting to disable the 
vehicles of two suspected smugglers who entered this country illegally 
at the Southern California border. Agent Aguilar was struck and killed 
by one of the vehicles as it fled back to Mexico.
  The tragic death of this border agent highlights the need for our 
government to get serious about defending our borders. As a key step in 
addressing this need, I recently introduced H.R. 4987, Defense By Date 
Certain Act. This legislation would mandate and fully fund the 
completion of a double-layered fence at designated locations on our 
southern border by June 30, 2009.

                              {time}  1930

  The fence alone cannot solve the illegal immigration crises, but it 
is an important step in securing our borders and regaining control of 
our Nation's sovereignty. The chaos and violence along our southern 
border is putting the lives of U.S. citizens and law enforcement 
officers at risk. Our Nation can no longer allow smugglers to cross our 
borders illegally, ignore our laws, carry guns, intimidate, and even 
murder our border agents.
  Mr. Speaker, as Members of the House are well aware, two other 
victims of violence on our southern border have now served more than a 
year in Federal prison. Agents Ramos and Compean entered Federal prison 
on January 17, 2007, and are serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences. 
These agents were convicted in March of 2006 for shooting a Mexican 
drug smuggler who brought 743 pounds of marijuana across our border 
into Texas. Ramos and Compean were doing their duty to protect the 
American people from an illegal alien drug smuggler.
  There is bipartisan agreement among Members of Congress that the 
overzealous prosecution of these agents, and their excessive prison 
sentences, is a tremendous miscarriage of justice. While our calls for 
a pardon have gone unanswered, these agents continue to languish in 
Federal prison away from their families and loved ones.
  Again I call on Chairman John Conyers to schedule a hearing of the 
House Judiciary Committee to fully examine this case. I am hopeful that 
the committee will review the justification for the indictment of these 
agents, which I sincerely believe have no justification, and how this 
U.S. Attorney's Office proceeded in this case.
  Mr. Speaker, when those who bravely defend our borders are 
prosecuted, it sends a terrible message to illegal aliens and drug 
smugglers. Our southern borders are threatened, and it is time for our 
government to start defending its citizens from these who will cross 
our borders illegally and threaten the American people.

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