[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17743]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     LET U.S. MARINE JON HAMMAR GO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran Jon 
Hammar honorably served two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
While he was on Active Duty, Hammar's battalion was hit very hard in 
Fallujah, and 13 of his fellow Marines were killed in action.
  When he came home to America, he suffered from PTSD, as many of our 
warriors do. He spent time in a recovery facility in California to cope 
with the mental wounds of war.
  Then, in August, Jon decided to get some R&R. He wanted to go to 
Costa Rica with a fellow marine, Ian McDonough, and they wanted to go 
on a surfing trip. According to McDonough, surfing gave Jon peace of 
mind and really helped with his therapy.
  So the two packed up their car with their surfboards and began their 
journey from Florida to Costa Rica. Their trip took them through Texas 
to the border, in Brownsville, Texas. There they crossed the 
international border into Matamoros, Mexico, and that is as far as they 
got.
  On the trip, Jon carried with him a 100-year-old antique gun, a 
family heirloom that belonged to his grandfather. When they arrived at 
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Texas, Jon did what he was 
supposed to do; he filled out all the necessary paperwork. He talked to 
U.S. Customs and verified with them that the rifle did not violate any 
Mexican law.
  The two allegedly handed the Mexican officials the paperwork 
regarding the rifle. But instead of continuing on their way to Costa 
Rica to go surfing, Hammar was immediately detained and dragged away to 
a notorious prison in Matamoros where they house narcoterrorists.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, here's a photograph of our marine when he served 
America. This is a photograph of him recently taken in the Matamoros 
prison. As you notice, he is in solitary confinement, and, similar to 
the old days, chained to his bed where he cannot go anywhere. This is 
all because of a misunderstanding and a mix-up about what the law is 
and what should have happened to him at the border.

                              {time}  1010

  So he's being held as a criminal because the size of the barrel on 
that rifle was, apparently, too long--even though U.S. Customs told 
Hammar he was not violating any American or Mexican law in having the 
rifle. Hammar had no criminal intent when he took that old rifle into 
Mexico.
  Jon Hammar should not have to spend another holiday away from his 
family--holidays he spent when he served as a marine--and certainly he 
shouldn't spend a holiday away from his family in a Mexican jail where 
he is illegally being detained. Obviously, there appears to be a 
misunderstanding between U.S. and Mexican officials, with Hammar 
literally caught in the middle of this. So Mexican President Enrique 
Nieto should intervene and have Hammar released. It is in the power of 
the Mexican President to solve this international incident and do so in 
a diplomatic way. So I ask that he do so and release Hammar by 
Christmas.
  Mr. Speaker, this marine and veteran has spent his life defending 
freedom, defending America, taking care of America. It's time that 
America take care of him by asking for and expecting his release from 
this Mexican prison where he ought not to be.
  And that's just the way it is.

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