Legislation Honoring Fallen Border Patrol Agent Clears Committee, Moves to Full House Vote

Measure would name Bisbee, Ariz., facility after slain Border Patrol agent Brian A. Terry, Killed in Line of Duty in Dec. 2010

(WASHINGTON)—The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved a bill to rename the Bisbee, Ariz., Border Patrol facility after agent Brian Terry who was killed on duty in December 2010.  The bill, H.R. 2668, was authored by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and is supported by 68 Democratic and Republican cosponsors.

“Brian Terry gave his life in service of his country. With today’s vote, the naming of the Bisbee station in his honor is one step closer to reality. Naming this facility after Agent Terry is just one small tribute to an officer who gave the ultimate sacrifice, and to his fellow agents who face that same risk every day,” Chairman Issa said.

Agent Terry’s family issued a statement upon introduction of the bill in July, saying, “From the very start, Brian loved his job as a Border Patrol agent and loved his fellow agents.  The new Naco Station named in Brian’s honor will serve as a lasting memory for all those who knew Brian.”

Terry died December 15, 2010 after being shot on patrol 14 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border near Rio Rico, Ariz., during an armed confrontation with suspected criminals.  Agent Terry’s murder is linked to Operation Fast and Furious, a U.S. Department of Justice-led program that knowingly allowed illegally-purchased weapons to be trafficked into Mexico and into the hands of drug cartels.  Chairman Issa has led the Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation into this program.

Prior to his service in the Border Patrol, Agent Terry served in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a police officer in Michigan.

The bill renames the facility at 2163 Naco Highway in Bisbee, and is only the second border patrol station to be named for a fallen agent.  The facility in Murrieta, Calif., is named in honor of Agents Theodore L. Newton, Jr., and George F. Azrak, both killed on duty in 1967, by an act earlier authored by Rep. Issa.

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