[Congressional Record: December 6, 2007 (House)]
[Page H14451]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr06de07-128]


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 324 days 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 two decorated Border Patrol agents, who were doing their duty to protect the American people from an illegal alien drug
smuggler, are serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences.

This week, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans
began hearing oral arguments for the agents' appeal. During the
hearing, one of the three judges on the case, Judge E. Grady Jolly,
said, ``It does seem to me that the government overreacted here. For
some reason, this one got out of hand.''

The judges in this appeal will need to examine why the judge allowed
the smuggler to plead the fifth amendment despite his immunity
agreement, and why the jury was not allowed to hear crucial evidence
that the smuggler was a repeat offender. The judges will also need to look at why the prosecutor charged the agents under a statute that was
intended for violent criminals carrying guns, not for law enforcement
officers acting in the line of duty.

Nothing can erase the suffering these agents have undergone and the
months they have spent in prison in solitary confinement away from
their families. However, a judgment in favor of Ramos and Compean in
this appeal would be an important victory and the first act of justice
these agents have seen since their arrest.

Mr. Speaker, the injustice of this case should not go unexamined.
Last night, I hand-delivered a letter to John Conyers, chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee, to request a hearing on this case. Chairman
Conyers responded that he would carefully review my letter and my
request.

In the eyes of the American people, the prosecution of these border
agents was not justified. The comments by the appeals judge are
justification enough for the House Judiciary Committee to review this
case to determine exactly why this case got out of hand.

An unbiased review of this case by Attorney General Mukasey, a
hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, and a Presidential pardon for
these agents are all steps that can and should be taken to rectify this
gross miscarriage of justice.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the family of these two border agents,
Compean and Ramos, that we in Congress will not give up the fight for
justice until their loved ones are at home.

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