Political Quotes

“it is with great pleasure that I join my friend Senator Leahy from Vermont in introducing, the Foreign Prison Conditions Improvement Act of 2013. As I stated when we introduced this bill in the 112th Congress, our bill seeks to identify and eliminate unhealthy and unsafe prison conditions found in developing countries like Haiti and on the African continent where millions suffer inhumane conditions as well as to address the dysfunctions in their legal systems. The introduction of this bill comes at an appropriate time because Jon Hammer, the imprisoned U.S. Marine being held in the Cedes Prison in Matamoras, Mexico was freed this past December 21st. Corporal Hammer, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was arrested in August and charged with a Federal weapons felony--facing up to 15 years in prison, for carrying an antique gun into Mexico on his way to Costa Rica for a hunting trip, despite, as I understand it, having a required permit and attempting to declare the gun. During the past 90 days, he faced the same harsh conditions that our bill is trying to address. Namely, Hammer was housed in an overcrowded and unsanitary prison, beaten by fellow inmates who were members of the murderous Mexican drug cartels, threatened with death in an extortion attempt by these inmates and chained to a bed. I had been involved in seeking Jon's release for several weeks, and I was heartened when he was released.…”