January 13, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H187 

the shooting of the drug smuggler constitutes an administrative error that should 

have been addressed. However, the application of 18 U.S.C. §924(c) to two U.S. Border 

Patrol agents in lawful possession of their 

firearms appears grossly inappropriate. Because agents Ramos and Compean were required to carry firearms during the course of 

their duties, I urge you to consider commuting this 10–year mandatory minimum 

sentence enhancement. 

Mr. President, the end of your term is 

quickly approaching and time is running out 

for you to heed the calls of the American 

people and reverse the grave injustice committed against agents Ramos and Compean. 

No useful purpose is served by the continued 

incarceration of these distinguished law enforcement officers. During this Christmas 

season, a time of peace and thanksgiving for 

the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, I urge 

you to open your heart to the pleas of the 

American people and commute the sentences 

of these two Hispanic-American heroes. 

Sincerely, 

WALTER B. JONES, 

Member of Congress. 

A response from the White House 

said that the agents’ requests for commutation ‘‘are receiving a careful and 

fair review.’’ If the President takes the 

time to personally review the agents’ 

case, I am confident the facts will lead 

him to the same conclusion that the 

majority of Americans have already 

reached: The indictments against these 

men were unjustified. 

The President should carefully consider one of the most troubling aspects 

of this case: The agents were charged 

under a statute intended for violent 

criminals carrying guns, not for law 

enforcement officers acting in the line 

of duty. Because the border agents 

were required to carry firearms during 

the course of their duties, I urge the 

President to commute the 10-year mandatory sentence for these charges. 

Mr. Speaker, time is running out for 

the President to reverse this grave injustice committed against Ramos and 

Compean. I pray that he will open his 

heart to the pleas of the American people and commute the sentences of these 

two deserving men. 

f 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DEFAZIO) is 

recognized for 5 minutes. 

(Mr. DEFAZIO addressed the House. 

His remarks will appear hereafter in 

the Extensions of Remarks.) 

f 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. BURTON) is 

recognized for 5 minutes. 

(Mr. BURTON of Indiana addressed 

the House. His remarks will appear 

hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.) 

f 

IT’S TIME TO GIVE DIPLOMACY A 

CHANCE 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. WOOLSEY) 

is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. WOOLSEY. A breath of fresh air 

filled the Capitol this morning. It happened during the confirmation hearings 

for HILLARY CLINTON. The Secretary of 

State-designate in her testimony said 

that ‘‘diplomacy will be the vanguard 

of foreign policy’’ in the Obama administration. 

b 1945 

This is exactly what the American 

people have been waiting 8 long years 

to hear. The current administration 

never used diplomacy, and the results 

have been devastating for us and for 

the world. The occupation of Iraq 

hasn’t made us any safer. It has cost 

over $1 trillion so far, helping to put 

our economy into a deep recession. It 

has devastated our reputation in the 

world. All of this is clear to just about 

everyone except our current leaders in 

the White House. 

At his press conference yesterday, 

President Bush insisted that the occupation of Iraq hasn’t damaged America’s moral standing in the world. But 

his administration’s policy of shooting 

first, asking questions later, has badly 

damaged our Nation’s moral authority. 

The use of torture has damaged it 

even more. Yesterday President Bush 

called the human rights abuses at Abu 

Ghraib a disappointment. But in recent 

weeks we have seen convincing evidence that Abu Ghraib was the result 

of deliberate administration policy. 

Talk about disappointment. 

In February of 2002, the President 

signed an order stating that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to members of al Qaeda or the Taliban. Then 

high-ranking American officials took a 

series of actions that made torture a 

part of our interrogation practices in 

Iraq and elsewhere. Former Defense 

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was one of 

the officials who gave his stamp of approval. 

A bipartisan report issued by the 

Senate Armed Services Committee on 

December 11 documented this illegal 

action and how these actions came 

about. According to the committee, the 

authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials conveyed the message that it was okay to 

retreat and degrade. 

Then a week after the committee 

issued its report, Vice President CHENEY gave a shocking interview to the 

Washington Times. In the interview, he 

admitted that 33 prisoners were subjected to what he called ‘‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’’ That’s fancy 

bureaucratic language for torture. He 

even admitted that prisoners were subjected to waterboarding, which has 

been considered a form of torture ever 

since the Spanish Inquisition. 

I know that conservatives like Vice 

President CHENEY have looked backwards for their policies, but the 15th 

century, Mr. Speaker, is much too far 

back. Look at the consequences of 

these policies of war, occupation and 

torture. The Middle East continues to 

be in turmoil and flames. Iran’s influence continues to spread. People all 

around the globe have a negative opinion of the United States, which makes 

it much harder for us to get their help. 

When America loses its moral authority, Osama bin Laden and other 

terrorists find it a lot easier to recruit 

new members. But with the change in 

our Nation’s leadership on January 20, 

America has new hope. We have new 

hope for the future. 

In addition to her comments about 

diplomacy this morning, HILLARY CLINTON said that ‘‘We must build a world 

with more partners and fewer adversaries,’’ and she promised to work with 

Congress and not to treat us with contempt, as the current administration 

has. She said, and I quote her, ‘‘For me, 

consultation is not a catchword—it’s a 

commitment.’’ 

And she quoted Terence, the Roman 

playwright, who said, ‘‘In every endeavor, the seemly course for wise 

(people) is to try persuasion first.’’ 

The current administration tried war 

and occupation for 8 years, and it 

didn’t work, so it’s time to give diplomacy a chance. 

f 

YOUR HARD-EARNED MONEY 

BELONGS TO YOU 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a 

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. NEUGEBAUER) 

is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. NEUGEBAUER. Mr. Speaker, 

this summer, spring, we sent Americans a stimulus check to help stimulate the economy. We actually gave 

them some money. We had already 

spent the money that they had given us 

for taxes, and so we went and borrowed 

some money and sent that money to 

the American people to let them try to 

stimulate our economy. 

Evidently that didn’t work as well as 

a lot of people thought it would, and so 

now there is a movement to spend 

much more, larger amount, triple, 

quadruple the amount of money that 

was spent this spring. Guess what? We 

don’t have the money, and so we are 

going to go and borrow it. 

So what we are on is this system of 

tax, spend, borrow. Tax, spend, borrow. 

It isn’t working. The American people 

know that that’s not the right prescription for getting us out of this economic slump. Yet that is the plan that 

will be brought before this body possibly this week. 

This is going to be a big week for 

your children and grandchildren. We 

are going to have a $350 billion second 

half of the stimulus or the bailout program, and now we are talking about 

nearly $1 trillion in new spending for a 

stimulus package, $1.3 trillion. 

My friend from Texas spoke about 

the fact that Members from Congress 

are using their voting cards as credit 

cards. It’s time, actually, for Members 

of Congress to start using their cards 

not as credit cards and mortgaging the 

future of our young people, but investing and beginning to spend money that 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with HOUSE