[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 190 (Monday, December 12, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8329-H8330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BRIAN A. TERRY MEMORIAL ACT

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2668) to designate the station of the United States Border 
Patrol located at 2136 South Naco Highway in Bisbee, Arizona, as the 
``Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station''.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2668

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Brian A. Terry Memorial 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) A native of Flat Rock, Michigan, Agent Brian A. Terry 
     served his country proudly with the United States Marine 
     Corps and continued his service as a police officer with the 
     cities of Ecorse and Lincoln Park, Michigan, prior to joining 
     the United States Border Patrol.
       (2) Agent Terry was a member of the 699th Session of the 
     Border Patrol Academy assigned to the Naco Border Patrol 
     Station within the Tucson Sector.
       (3) On December 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian A. 
     Terry was conducting a Border Patrol Tactical unit (BORTAC) 
     operation in the area of ``Peck Wells''.
       (4) At 11:15 p.m., near Rio Rico, Arizona, and about 15 
     miles north of Nogales, Arizona, Agent Terry and his team 
     spotted a group of individuals approaching their position.
       (5) Shortly thereafter, an encounter ensued and gunfire was 
     exchanged that left Agent Terry mortally wounded.
       (6) Agent Terry succumbed to his injuries on December 15, 
     2010.
       (7) Agent Terry is survived by his mother, father, 
     stepmother, stepfather, brother, and two sisters.

     SEC. 3. DESIGNATION.

       The station of the United States Border Patrol located at 
     2136 South Naco Highway in Bisbee, Arizona, shall be known 
     and designated as the ``Brian A. Terry Border Patrol 
     Station''.

     SEC. 4. REFERENCES.

       Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, 
     or other record of the United States to the station referred 
     to in section 1 shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
     ``Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rogers of Alabama). Pursuant to the 
rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham) and the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Cummings) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 2668.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 2668 would designate the station of the United States Border 
Patrol located at 2136 South Naco Highway in Bisbee, Arizona, as the 
Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station. I am pleased to coauthor H.R. 
2668, and I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for 
introducing this bipartisan legislation.
  The Brian A. Terry Memorial Act would honor Border Patrol Agent Brian 
A. Terry by designating the station of the United States Border Patrol 
located at 2136 South Naco Highway in Bisbee, Arizona, as the Brian A. 
Terry Border Patrol Station.
  Born in Flat Rock, Michigan, Agent Terry proudly served his country 
with the United States Marine Corps and continued his service as a 
police officer in Michigan prior to joining the United States Border 
Patrol. Agent Terry became a member of the 699th Session of the Border 
Patrol Academy, assigned to the Naco Border Patrol Station within the 
Tucson, Arizona, sector.
  On December 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was 
conducting a Border Patrol Tactical Unit operation in the area of Peck 
Well. At 11:15, near Rio Rico, Arizona, and about 15 miles north of 
Nogales, Arizona, Agent Terry and his team spotted a group of 
individuals approaching their position.

                              {time}  1700

  Investigators later found that the suspects were preying on illegal 
immigrants with the intent to rob them. Shortly thereafter, an 
encounter ensued and gunfire was exchanged that left Agent Terry 
mortally wounded by a bullet fired by a suspect's AK-47. Agent Terry 
passed away the following day.
  This legislation honors the ultimate sacrifice of Agent Terry while 
he bravely protected our Nation's borders. I support passage of this 
legislation and urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 2668, the Brian A. Terry Memorial 
Act, which honors the life and sacrifice of U.S. Border Patrol Agent 
Brian Terry. I'm pleased to be an original cosponsor of this measure, 
and I applaud Mr. Issa for his leadership on this.
  One year ago this Wednesday, on December 14, 2010, as on so many 
previous nights, Agent Terry and his team were out patrolling the 
border areas of Arizona and defending this country. Tragically, that 
night he died in the line of duty from injuries sustained in a gun 
fight. He died in the line of duty upholding his oath to defend our 
country. He was only 40 years old and was days away from taking a trip 
back home to Michigan for the Christmas holiday.
  Even before he joined the United States Customs and Border Protection 
as a Border Patrol agent, Agent Terry displayed an exemplary record of 
public service. He joined the United States Marine Corps upon his 
graduation from high school and served a tour of duty in Iraq. He was 
honorably discharged in 1994.
  Upon completing his military service, he returned home to Michigan 
and completed a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. He then 
served as a police officer in Ecorse and Lincoln Park, Michigan. In 
2007, he joined the United States Customs and Border Protection and 
became a member of its elite Border Patrol Tactical Unit. This unit 
responds to some of the most dangerous threats against our Nation's 
homeland, which perfectly suited Agent Terry's courage, patriotism, and 
dedication to his country. Agent Terry was stationed at the Nogales 
Border Patrol Station near Tucson, Arizona, which is the largest border 
patrol station in the entire country.
  Agent Terry took great pride in serving and defending his country. He 
worked tirelessly day after day confronting imminent and immediate 
danger on the southwest border.
  Despite the dangerous nature of his work, those who knew him 
described him as ``a strong, competitive, handsome, courageous, funny, 
and incredibly patriotic American.'' He was also proud to serve as a 
Federal law enforcement agent.
  I have met Agent Terry's family, and I support the ongoing efforts to 
seek answers for them. Others at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office 
are working to bring his killers to justice.
  I join with the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Chairman Issa, 
in urging that the House adopt H.R. 2668, the Brian A. Terry Memorial 
Act,

[[Page H8330]]

which recognizes Agent Terry's life and service and names in his honor 
a Border Patrol station in Bisbee, Arizona.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Issa).
  Mr. ISSA. The ranking member said a great deal of what I was going to 
say and he said it well. Brian Terry was, in fact, a special human 
being who dedicated his life to public service, first in the United 
States Marine Corps, then in local law enforcement, then at the Border 
Patrol. His only ambition was to be a Federal law enforcement servant.
  He left behind a family asking a great many questions because just 10 
days before Christmas a year ago, he was gunned down. In fact, we still 
don't have all of the answers. The ranking member, Mr. Cummings, and I 
continue to look for those answers. We learned only last week that 
there is an indictment in connection with his killing. We look forward 
to the Terry family having full and complete resolution of all the 
details around his death.
  But for all the ambiguity that often happens in the heat of a battle 
that happens in law enforcement, there's no question about who Brian 
Terry was, what a special human being he was and why for only the 
second time in Border Patrol history will a facility be named for one 
of their fallen heroes. It was decades after the last fallen heroes 
before a facility not even envisioned at the time was named for them.
  In this case we believe this is appropriate to do now. This was some 
one who knew the risk, and he went willingly into the highest risk down 
on our border. Here in Congress we often have a lively debate about the 
border and border enforcement. Brian Terry didn't debate border 
enforcement. He knew his job was to see that no one got past the border 
that wasn't supposed to.
  Whether it was human traffickers, whether it was drug smugglers, 
whether they had high-powered rifles, or they were simply crossing the 
border illegally, he knew his job was to see that our borders were 
respected, and he did so out of a sense of duty and patriotism.
  This act is hugely bipartisan at a time in which Congress is not so 
bipartisan. It is so because we know that the men and women of the 
Border Patrol, the men and women who support and protect one of the 
most basic aspects of national sovereignty, do so without looking at 
politics. They don't make the laws. They don't decide who gets to come 
to our country or not. They enforce them, and they enforce them in a 
way that we all can respect.
  Our committee has an obligation to look into and to get the details 
of the unnecessary loss of his life. But I want to thank today Chairman 
Mica and Mr. Denham and certainly Ranking Member Rahall for moving this 
historic piece of legislation, one that brings an honor only once 
before ever given to a Border Patrol and Customs agent, to this one at 
the very facility where, if he were still alive, he would have returned 
after that Christmas back home in Michigan to his friends, his 
colleagues, the people whose flank he protected. He didn't get that 
opportunity to go home for Christmas. He didn't get to serve out his 
years with his friends and colleagues; and for that the family has our 
undying gratitude for his sacrifice and our apologies and our 
condolences for the loss.
  Today, we're doing one of the few things we can do, and that is to 
honor on the House floor a fallen hero, a man who didn't fall in Iraq, 
but did fall on the Arizona border.
  With that, I want to thank Mr. Denham for bringing this here in a 
timely fashion. I want to thank the Speaker for ensuring that this 
becomes law.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers.
  I will say that it is so important that we pause for a moment to 
honor people like Officer Terry.
  So often our officers, various officers throughout the Federal 
system, go out expecting to come home to their families and 
unfortunately do not come home. It is so very, very sad. We spent quite 
a bit of time, Mr. Issa and I, talking to the family and trying to 
console them. But I think the thing they want more than anything else 
right now is answers. I again join him in a bipartisan way with our 
entire committee to find those answers because I think it is so very, 
very important. As I've said many times, I shall not rest until we do 
find those answers.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge all of our Members to vote for this 
historic piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Denham) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2668.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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