Walter B. Jones: “Today is the 119th day since a great injustice took place in this country. On January 17, 2007, two U.S. Border Patrol…”

“Today is the 119th day since a great injustice took place in this country. On January 17, 2007, two U.S. Border Patrol agents entered Federal prison to begin serving 11 and 12-year sentences respectively. I am hopeful that this will be the month that House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy will hold a hearing to investigate the injustice perpetrated against these two U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents Compean and Ramos were convicted last spring for wounding a Mexican drug smuggler who brought 734 pounds of marijuana across our border into Texas. These agents never should have been persecuted. Yet the U.S. Attorney's Office granted immunity to the drug smuggler and prosecuted the agents who were doing their job to protect our borders. The illegal drug smuggler received full medical care in El Paso, Texas, was permitted to return to Mexico and has sued the Border Patrol for $5 million for violating his civil rights. Many Members of this House, including Congressman Ted Poe, who is a former judge from Texas, have voiced concerns about the unfair prosecution of these agents. With the troubling revelations surrounding the leadership of the U.S. Justice Department, I believe it is necessary to investigate the U.S. Attorney's Office in western Texas and the prosecutor's actions in this case. Never in America should the Congress sit by and allow a breakdown of honesty and integrity in our Nation's judicial system.”