TUCSON, AZ - JANUARY 21: A U.S. Border Patrol agent passes photos of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry during a memorial service on January 21, 2011 in Tucson, Arizona. Terry was killed during a December14 shootout with suspected bandits near the U.S.-Mexico Border. Thousands of Border Patrol agents and fellow law enforcement officers from across Arizona turned out for the memorial service held at Kino baseball stadium in Tucson. With U.S. agents tracking drug smugglers and illegal immigrants all along the border, the region is one of the most militarized areas of the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
“The overwhelming support with which the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act passed the House of Representatives is a tribute to Agent Terry’s life of service and to the Border Patrol’s distinguished history of protecting America’s homeland,” House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, the bill’s main sponsor, said in a statement on Thursday.
The bill is waiting for action in the Senate. Assuming it’s passed, it will rename the U.S. Border Patrol station in Bisbee, Arizona to honor Terry’s memory.
“While many questions remain unanswered regarding the circumstances surrounding Agent Terry’s death, one thing is certain; he gave his life in defense of our country,” Issa added. “This, the one year anniversary of Agent Terry’s passing, is a reminder of his sacrifice and of the risk his fellow agents take daily on our behalf.”
Terry was killed with weapons Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department allowed to be sold to Mexican drug cartels via Operation Fast and Furious.
Fast and Furious was a program of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, overseen by Holder’s Department of Justice. It cleared the way for thousands of weapons to get to Mexican drug cartels via straw purchasers — people who legally purchased guns in the United States with the known intention of illegally trafficking them somewhere else.
At least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, as was Terry. The identities of the Mexican victims are unknown.
A full year later, Holder is facing a surge in calls for his resignation over the operation. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing one week ago, Holder admitted he does not plan to resign, nor does he plan to ask for anyone else’s resignation over Fast and Furious.
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