Press Conference with House Republicans

Press Conference

Press Conference with House Republicans

PRESS CONFERENCE WITH REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R-CA); REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R-CA); REP. DAN BURTON (R-IN); REP. JOHN CULBERSON (R-TX); REP. WILLIAM DELAHUNT (D-MA); REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX); REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA); REP. SAM JOHNSON (R-TX); REP. STEVE KING (R-IA); REP. WALTER JONES (R-NC); REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX); REP. ED ROYCE (R-CA)
SUBJECT: REQUEST TO COMMUTE THE SENTENCES OF FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENTS JOSE COMPEAN AND IGNACIO RAMOS

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REP. ROHRABACHER: All right. I'm Congressman Dana Rohrabacher from the 46th Congressional District in California, and I'll be having a -- just a few words. And then what we're going to do is, I'm going to have everybody get up and introduce themselves and tell you what state and district they're from and have a few words, and then we will open up for questions.

Today we are joining together on behalf of Agents Ramos and Compean, who all of us believe at the very least should not be serving the long sentence that was given them. Most of us believe and so many millions of Americans believe this prosecution was rotten from day one.

We are coming to the end of the Bush administration. The days are short. We would hope the president would pay attention, and we would also like Johnny Sutton, the U.S. attorney who played such an important role in this prosecution, to pay attention too. This is a time when past mistakes or perhaps something that -- a little bit overblown or someone who put too much force into a blow against someone who -- people that they were doing wrong should take a second look. Johnny Sutton was instrumental in putting Ramos and Compean, people who I think are heroes, who risked their lives for us every day -- putting them in prison and taking the side of a drug-dealing -- a legal immigrant who was in the process of smuggling a million dollars of drugs into our country. And we ended up putting Ramos and Compean in jail instead of that drug dealer. Now, that's a travesty.

But we have -- right now we have a chance to make it right. We have a chance by -- make it right, to look into our hearts.

And we are asking Johnny Sutton to look into his heart, as a prosecutor, and to advise the president of the United States to, at the very least, commute the sentences of Ramos and Compean, so they will not spend even more years in solitary confinement, these two brave defenders of our country.

Now, there's every reason to believe that Mr. Sutton understands this basic point. In the past -- we have here statements made by Johnny Sutton as to the severity of the punishment of Ramos and Compean. In each case, he believes he did the right thing in prosecuting these two men. But Johnny Sutton also, in these cases, has agreed that the punishment was way out of line with what the supposed crime was.

So we are asking Johnny Sutton to go to the president and ask President Bush to commute the sentence of Ramos and Compean. It's justice, it's humaneness and it's something that we would expect from people who are trying to do their job fairly. And if the president's trying to do his job and Johnny Sutton's trying to do his job, they all recognize, as he already has, that the sentence was too severe.

With that said, we'll just go down the line and -- who wants to go?

REP. : (Off mike) -- Bill, or --

REP. : (Off mike.)

REP. ROHRABACHER: Yeah, Bill. Come on, Bill. Come on, Bill.

REP. DELAHUNT: (Off mike) -- you were heading up there and I know you've got -- I want to listen -- (off mike).

REP. BURTON: They want the younger guys first, so they have --

I agree with what Dana just said about commuting the sentence. This whole issue has sent the wrong message to our Border Patrol agents and the people who defend our border, 1,980 miles between us and Mexico. The sentence should be commuted. I think everybody up here agrees with that. And we would urge the president -- even if the attorney does not change his mind, we'd urge the president, on his last days in office, to commute that sentence and let those guys out. They deserve to be out. It sends a very good signal to the border agents. And I think everybody in this country would be happy if that happened.

So Mr. President, if you're watching, we urge you to commute this sentence and let these fellows out -- go home to their families.

REP. DELAHUNT: Yeah, I'm Congressman Bill Delahunt from Massachusetts. And I would echo the sentiments that were just expressed by my colleagues Dan Burton and Dana Rohrabacher, and my other colleagues here.

I think it's important to understand that there is a process, in terms of seeking and securing a commutation. We just recently received a letter that -- you know, from the pardon attorney at the Department of Justice.

But what's important to understand is that the president can do this. There is a plethora, an abundance of facts that are out there that demonstrate that this particular punishment is excessive and disproportionate.

Let me give you some statistics. The U.S. Sentencing Commission did a review of manslaughter cases where the individual was adjudicated either through a plea or a jury verdict as guilty. The average sentence was three years. I could enumerate a vast number of crimes that reinforce the fact that this is a disproportionate sentence. Eleven or 12 years is just simply a -- a sentence that I would suggest undermines the confidence of the American people in the integrity of our system. And I would also call on the president.

I would also point out that the deputy chief of the Border Patrol, who participated in the prosecution of Ramos and Compean -- his name is Barker, Luis Barker -- he testified before the committee, the Senate committee that was hearing this particular case. And when asked the question what did he believe in terms of this sentence, was it harsh, was it excessive, unequivocally he stated that, yes, it was excessive and was harsh.

You see to my right here comments made by the prosecutor in the case indicating that, yes, it is a harsh sentence.

I think that this is a final opportunity for President Bush to demonstrate compassion. He talked about compassion recently. This is an opportunity to do it, and I hope that he does do it.

REP. WALTER JONES (R-NC): My name is Walter Jones. I represent the Third Congressional District of North Carolina. I want to thank my friends here today. We have been joined together as a team. We've been fighting for these men for the last three to four years. My comments will be very brief.

In December, I opened this Christmas card that was sent to me in North Carolina. I opened it and, quite frankly, my heart sank.

This is the family of Compean and Ramos. And the cover is the wives and the children. Then when you open the card, talking about holiday season, Christmas, the love of Christ, and there are the two men, sitting in a federal prison.

When I opened this card immediately, I called my staff and I said, I want to write the president. And my friends here today have done that as well many times. And we've done it as a team. This is once -- I want to read to you.

Mr. President, this week, I opened a Christmas card which pictured two beautiful families with three children each. I was deeply saddened when I realized these were photographs of the Ramos and Compean families, who will face another Christmas with husbands and fathers locked away in federal prison if you fail to intervene on their behalf.

I join my colleagues today in saying, Mr. President, you have just a few days left. You profess to be a man of faith. I will not question that. But as a man of faith, when a terrible injustice has been done, to two Hispanic Americans, for God's sake, get down on your knees and pray to God and ask him if you should commute these sentences, because I believe God will tell you yes.

Thank you.

REP. ROYCE: Hello. I'm Congressman Ed Royce from the 40th Congressional District in Orange County. And I had authored the letter that 85 of my colleagues had signed that went to the president, asking him to commute this sentence.

I had an opportunity recently to talk to the president about commuting this sentence. And I explained to him that here in the U.S., if someone commits murder and is convicted of manslaughter, they serve three years.

It is the disproportionate nature of this.

We're talking about 11 to 12 years that I would like the president to focus on, and this is what I talked to him about. You see the comment by the prosecutor, Johnny Sutton, and Sutton says he disagreed with the 11- and 12-year terms the border agents received, because the president has the ability to commute this sentence, and also because of the fact that we had over 700 attacks last year on Border Patrol agents in the United States.

And be mindful of the fact that the drug cartels now control key parts of that border. It is the drug cartels that are involved in many of the attacks on our Border Patrol. I think when we keep this in mind and then when we consider also that it was an employee of the drug cartels, it was one of their runners, one of their smugglers who was the star witness. And while he was the star witness against these two Border Patrol agents, he was simultaneously violating the visa given to him, the immunity given to him, and using that immunity in order to bring additional drugs into this country during the trial.

We now know that he was running drugs before, during and after. As we know, the jury were told there was no way for Ramos and Compean to know he was running drugs at the time, but clearly, that vehicle was laden down with drugs. He was running drugs. And this is a great miscarriage of justice. And this is a chance for the president to commute this sentence and right this wrong. And I join chairman Delahunt and Congressman Rohrabacher and the others here in urging the president to do that.

Thank you.

REP. KING: I'm Steve King, Iowa 5. And as I listen to my colleagues and I listen to the public dialogue, I'm not finding anyone that believes that the sentence for Ramos and Compean is not too harsh. I think that's a universal consensus that's been developed across this country. Then it becomes a question of the law and whether the president will pardon or commute the sentences of Ramos and Compean.

I'll submit something that I haven't heard said, and that is that of the single round fired by Ramos, he could not have known -- and, I believe, had stated that he did not know -- that that round actually struck the drug smuggler. And so therefore, that changes the dynamics of what kind of guilt should be associated with a report that was not appropriately filed.

That's a lot of the discussion that's come out from a U.S. attorney in this period of time.

If you look at these quotes, these six quotes from U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, that's a lot of public dialogue for a single prosecution. And the last statement that he has made is that with regard to a pardon or a clemency at some point, and this is quoting Johnny Sutton, the Department of Justice will probably ask for my recommendation. And when that comes, we'll make one.

Well, let's presume that the Department of Justice doesn't make that request. I'll submit that they can then infer the recommendation that's likely to come, from Johnny Sutton, by the public statements that he has made.

And then, Mr. President, I'd ask this. Of the dozens and dozens of people that you have pardoned and given clemency to and commuted a sentence, there's a rank order of their merit. Agents Ramos and Compean fit somewhere in that rank order pretty close to the top. We'll be evaluating that list and make that judgment ourselves. So will the public.

They deserve a pardon. Maybe they can be excepted to for a commutation of sentence. But they do not deserve to sit in a federal penitentiary, for 11 and 12 years, for defending our border.

Thank you.

REP. BILBRAY: Brian Bilbray of the 50th, and you can decide what state has 50 districts. Let me just say, as somebody who was born and raised along the border and watched this situation develop, over the last few years, any reasonable person would understand that the maximum that any reasonable case would have on this would be two years; no way you could go beyond that.

Now, how did it go into over a decade, was the application of the minimum sentencing for the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime. As somebody who was in local government and law enforcement, oversight, during the time that the minimum sentencing for the use of a firearm was implemented, it was never meant to apply to officers who are required by law to carry firearms, never was meant to apply to that case.

And I think that even the prosecutor here understands that this case got out of hand and runaway. And to use a very harsh term, there was almost a lynch mob mentality, when it came to getting these two agents, somehow sending a signal to any other Border Patrol agents about the use of force.

That is a sad testimonial that a law that was never meant for men and women that are required to carried a firearm is used in this case. And that 2-year application has been extended over to 12.

Now, interesting is if you -- if the president's just willing to say that 10 years should have never applied to these two men, that would show that the 24 months that they have already served should be an appropriate sentence if you assume all the wrong things about the case and blame them for all -- the situation that they were placed in. So at minimum, he should basically say, time served should -- is enough, and we commute the 10.

Now, let me say this. The president just did a press -- a press conference talking about the fact that there were things he were proud of; there's things that didn't work out. No administration, especially an eight-year administration, you know, fighting terrorism and all the other stuff, is going to not, at the end of their term, say: Doggone it, there were things that we wished we could have done differently. There were things that didn't work out. There were things I wish we could go back and correct.

And so many of those mistakes in the past cannot be corrected by this president. And he understands that and we understand that. But here is a mistake that President Bush can correct now. He can -- he can take care of this problem and right a wrong before he leaves the White House. And he doesn't have very many opportunities to do that.

But these two men, their families, the men and women that are vested with protecting Americans across this country that have to carry sidearms, they expect the president and are praying for the president to correct this one wrong that he can do, that he has the power to do before he leaves the White House. And we call on him to take this opportunity that he has here. Maybe he doesn't have it with a lot of other mistakes, but this is one that he can correct, straighten it out, and be able to go home to Texas knowing that this one he was able to do the right thing on.

REP. GOHMERT: I'm Louie Gohmert, congressman from the 1st District of Texas.

There's some great quotes from the U.S. attorney. You don't see quotes like that very often. Some prosecutors don't understand that their job is to seek justice. Many prosecutors -- not many, but some prosecutors get the idea that their job is to win. That is a serious, serious problem. Having been a prosecutor, a judge handling thousands of felony cases, chief justice, I've seen both kinds.

And what I believe we've seen in this case was some folks that wanted to win, and in which justice was not done.

As Brian pointed out -- I wasn't here when that legislation was enacted, but it was very clear, the legislative intent was clear. It was never meant to apply to law enforcement, who carry weapons as a part of their job. So they parlay that up into a discharging a weapon in the commission of a crime? They were not in the commission of a crime. They were in the commission of defending our borders, and they should have been acknowledged for having done that.

Reports -- there's mistakes, problems there. That's one thing. But it does not justify this kind of sentence. And it did not justify, if you go review the record, the kind of misrepresentation that was put upon the jury. A fraud upon the court is a serious matter, and a prosecutor who just wants to win can help perpetuate things that should never occur. The jury should have been aware completely of what credibility was had by whom.

And when a drug smuggler who is bringing poison to poison the youth, the people in America, into this country, the jury needs to understand that this was not a one-time thing. The prosecutor knew that. The prosecutor fought hard to prevent the jury from finding out that this guy was a mule; he brought in drugs; it wasn't a one-time thing to help his poor ol' momma back home. That was not justice. And so for a number of reasons, it should never have gone the way it did.

Johnny Sutton now is saying, gee, you know, this first quote, "I have a lot of sympathy for those who say, look, punishment's too high; you know, 10 years. I agree." Well, if he agrees, he can correct a wrong, because it was a wrong. The jury didn't know that this man was a mule and it was an ongoing drug venture for him. The jury should have known that, so they could more accurately assess his credibility.

As those who've tried cases know, credibility is always an issue. It's always relevant. And when that picture was allowed to be painted that this was just a one-time drug transaction for him, then it was a misrepresentation. I believe was fraud on the court.

So most of us are for a complete pardon, but if the U.S. attorney wants justice to finally get -- (audio break).

MORE

REP. HUNTER: (In progress following audio break) -- not have been a drive-in incursion across the border.

If there was even pylons in the ground, stopping vehicles entering America, there would have been no drive-in whatsoever.

This would not have ever happened if the Department of Homeland Security and if this administration had built that border fence as they were required to by law, which did not happen. So again I say as a Marine, to you, Mr. Bush, please do your job as commander in chief. It's your responsibility to look out for your men.

REP. MCCAUL: Michael McCaul from Texas. I won't repeat everything that's been said here. But the time -- time is running out. And the time to act is now on this case. The time for the president to pardon is now or at least commute the sentences to time served.

I've served as a prosecutor. This is one of those cases where the punishment really doesn't seem to fit the crime. And if you look at the comments of the U.S. attorney, even he acknowledges that this is not -- there's a legitimate question that the punishment is too harsh. And I think the American people believe that the punishment was too harsh. It was excessive in this case.

And when we look at who the president has pardoned thus far, there's a whole host of bad actors, including drug dealers, many of whom were drug dealers, hip-hop singers that got busted for drugs.

It seems like this whole case pivoted around the actions of a drug dealer and the ability to apprehend him, a drug dealer who brought another load of drugs across with a travel document that was issued to him by the United States government, a drug dealer who, after he escaped to Mexico, tried to organize a hunting party to kill Border Patrol agents.

This goes beyond -- this is not -- we're not making an appellate argument today. We are making a plea to the president to let these men go free. And we are doing so because it's a legitimate moral issue.

It has to do with morale of the Border Patrol. This has gravely impacted the morale of the Border Patrol agents on our southwest border. And so for the sake of the morale of the Border patrol and for the sake of justice, free Ramos and Compean.

REP. ROHRABACHER: I want to thank my colleagues. Just to note that a number of the people who just spoke, in their career prior to being elected to Congress, were prosecutors and judges and people who have been deeply involved in the whole criminal justice system.

And their expertise should be noted. They are telling us that this is an injustice.

And just in summary, let me just say that there are many members of Congress and millions of Americans who have dedicated themselves to freeing Ramos and Compean and correcting what we thought was a horrible injustice. It was a prosecution that should never have happened.

However, now we are in the last few days that are left of the Bush administration. Even if we can agree to disagree on whether or not that prosecution should have happened at all, let us agree, as Johnny Sutton, the prosecutor agrees, that the punishment is excessive. It is -- it is unconscionable to permit Ramos and Compean to sit in prison for another 10 years.

And the president of the United States, we are pleading with him. We are pleading with Mr. Sutton to go to the president and express to him that this -- that the term and the punishment here that Ramos and Compean are suffering is unjust and that they are -- and that their sentence should be commuted and they should be freed and be able to go back to their families.

We are all pleading that -- members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, millions of Americans. Time is short, Mr. President. Time is short, Johnny Sutton. Let's right a wrong.

With that said, any questions?

Yes, ma'am.

Q (Off mike.) Congressman Delahunt referenced a letter that he'd gotten from the pardon attorney. Can you talk a little bit about whether or not -- (off mike)?

REP. ROHRABACHER: I did not -- I did not receive that letter, so Mr. Delahunt has -- would have to answer that question.

Q And also, if this does not happen in the last days of President Bush, do you plan to appeal to President-elect Obama? And have any of you had conversations with either the president-elect or his transition team or -- (off mike)?

REP. ROHRABACHER: I can only speak for myself, and I think my colleagues have the same burden in their heart, and that is that it is a painful thought, even, to think that two men who, for five and ten years of their life -- not to mention their military service before -- went out, knowing that they could be losing their life to protect my family and to protect our families and I will never give up on this.

And I think my colleagues -- and I know there are millions of Americans who will never give up on this, because our families are alive and our families are not suffering because these men were willing to put their lives -- and risk their lives every single day. So let us hope that this president sets it right. But if it's -- when -- once he's out of office, they won't be forgotten, but they -- but these men will still be in jail.

REP. : Dana, let me point out that these guys, every day they're in jail, they're at high risk inside the institution itself. That's why -- (inaudible) -- been isolated. We've already had an incident where one of them was severely beaten.

So it's not just an issue of justice and a timeline, but every day that they stay in that environment, they are much more exposed to violence and having a terrible thing happening simply because of the environment they're put in.

You know they're a target.

REP. : I spoke personally to President Bush and he said he was looking at this; and if he does not commute this sentence, I will speak personally to President Obama about it. And in the meantime, I also intend to work with my colleagues to try to move legislation in the new session should the president not grant this commutation.

Q What kind of legislation?

REP. : Basically trying to carve out legislatively a provision that would grant clemency at this point.

REP. : But as the poet said, there's a hope that springs eternal in the human breast. I haven't given up hope that this president before he leaves office will do the right thing. That's what needs to happen.

Q (Off mike) -- a little bit more on Congressman Royce, your discussion with President Bush. Could you talk a little bit more about that?

REP. ROYCE: Well, his response was he was looking at it. And as I explained, what I presented by way of an argument was to explain the amount served -- the average sentence in the United Sates for someone who commits manslaughter, and I said that's three years in the United States and that these men had already served basically two years, and that as a consequence and in the interest of justice, he had the power to do this. And that's the request I made of him.

Q This question is for Congressman Hunter and whoever --

REP. ROHRABACHER: All right. Let us note, before he -- that it's very great to have Duncan here talking about (the fence ?). It just seems like old times, like -- (laughter).

REP. HUNTER: It does.

Q The president pardoned Scooter Libby a long time ago, so why do you think he has not pardoned them at this point? (Off mike)?

REP. HUNTER: I don't know. I couldn't tell you what is in President Bush's heart. And I think that's something that each of us are wondering, why that wasn't done. I don't know.

Q This question is for all of you.

What would be your words to the president if he does not do this by the time --

REP. ROHRABACHER: Just to note that the president is determining what his legacy will be, and he's been talking about that in the last few days, and I would say that the biggest black mark on his legacy will be if he closes the door to the Oval Office, and Ramos and Compean are still behind prison bars and their door is still closed; and that the families of Ramos and Compean are still suffering greatly, which they are, while Bush can go back to his family and enjoy his retirement. That would be a horrible legacy, and I hope that he keeps that in mind.

REP. : I think I can answer your question why hasn't the president already done this. If you look at some of the president's answers in recent interviews, one of the things he said was that in the first term he took some bad advice. I know there's disagreement, and some people like to excoriate President Bush. He's a good man. He's smarter than most people give him credit for. But he has taken bad advice, not just in the first term, but in this case as well. I mean, he took bad advice with regard to the bailout. But he acts on the advice of those around him in top positions, whom he just puts complete faith in. He got bad advice on this case, and that is why he still continues to not pardon or commute.

So if Johnny Sutton will do what he said he would do and let the president know what he's told the rest of America that the president hadn't seen, you'll see at least a commutation and, I hope, a pardon.

REP. : Yeah, I'll just add there is a legacy issue here, and that legacy issue is the increased power and control that the drug cartels have obtained over the U.S.-Mexican border. And in the last few years that power has become so great that the U.S. government now estimates that the cartels have a major presence in over a hundred American cities.

Now, the question is, what do we do to curtail and confront the power of the drug cartels on the border? Because it is that power on that border, porous border, that gives them this kind of control now and ability to bring the amount of drugs and have the kinds of influence they have and the type of gang activity that is feeding into American cities.

And the answer to that has to do with whether or not we prosecute the drug dealers, the members of the cartel and the drug dealers.

And in this particular case, what is appalling here is the fact that it is an employee of the cartel who ends up getting, from the U.S. a visa to bring drugs into the United States, while appearing as a star witness against two of our Border Patrol agents. And as Senator Feinstein has said, it's had a chilling effect on our Border Patrol.

If we want to -- if we want to turn back the power of the drug cartel, we have got to -- on the border -- we have got to take decisive action in order to commute this sentence, in order to free these two Border Patrol agents as a message to our Border Patrol that is increasingly under attack, on that dangerous border, that we are standing with them. And that's the legacy issue here for the president to consider.

MR. : Let me say, you've got to bring it down to a human element.

It's always easy for elected officials to say, give clemency; let these guys off; whatever. But a lot of times, you should ask them, ask the elected officials, well, if you don't want them in jail, would you want them living next door to you?

Well, let me tell you, as one, and I bet you every member here will say, we would feel better with these two gentlemen and their family living next to our homes than having them in prison or having them anywhere else.

I would be proud to have these two agents as my next-door neighbors. And that says a lot about, Mr. President, what benefit to the American people do you expect to have by requiring these two agents to remain in jail for over a decade?

Are we really serving not just justice but the good of the nation by keeping these people behind bars when they've proven over the years, through government service, through public service, that they're the kind of neighbors that not only we should be looking forward to having but the president should be looking forward to having?

Q Quick follow-up, going back to what we said before, what advice do you think -- was it bad advice? Who specifically do you think gave him that advice originally?

MR. : Well, normally the president would get, as I understand it, would get advice directly from the U.S. attorney. President Bush has said before that Johnny Sutton is his dear friend. So I would anticipate he got advice from the U.S. attorney.

I would doubt that the president has had time, with all the other things going on, to read the transcript and to see how the jury was truly misled.

It was possible for the prosecutors to win, but it was not possible for them to win with what they pursued and have justice done.

And the president didn't get that from his adviser. I think he's taken Johnny Sutton's advice right down the road on this thing. And Sutton needs to man up and do the right thing here.

One last question and then we're done. Yes.

Q (Off mike) -- a long-standing relationship with Bush and Johnny Sutton, going back to --

REP. ROHRABACHER: Yes.

Q Do you think if this had been a different -- (inaudible) -- he probably would have -- the president would have commuted their sentence?

REP. : Personal relationships matter.

REP. ROHRABACHER: Yeah. Personal relationships do -- one thing is certain, that -- the fact that Johnny Sutton and the president had the personal relationship, it may have -- let's put it the way -- it may have influenced the president to sort of dig his heels in and stick with his man. But as we are stressing today, his man has expressed on so many occasions that he believes that this sentence is just totally out of line. And that part should be listened to, as well.

I mean, this -- we're asking Johnny Sutton to go to the president and express that so that there can be no mistake in the president's decision-making process that he is indeed being -- it's being recommended to him to free Ramos and Compean from prison today.

And then one last note. Their families are suffering terribly on this. Remember, this isn't just Ramos and Compean. That Christmas card that Walter showed us -- I mean, let's not forget, this has destroyed the lives of two families who -- of men who had spent their lives in public service and risking their lives for us. And their families -- the retirement system's gone. They don't have their health care systems now.

At the very least, the president, if he talks about compassion, has to understand those families are suffering and they need to get their husbands back. And he can do it. He can commute the sentence. Johnny Sutton should go to him today and ask the president to commute the sentence because he believes that the punishment was -- did not fit the crime.

So thank you all very much. And hopefully the president will get the message.

Q Thank you.

END.

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