Ed Royce: “I rise to honor senior Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar. He was killed 3 weeks ago on January 19. He was intentionally…”

“I rise to honor senior Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar. He was killed 3 weeks ago on January 19. He was intentionally struck by the driver of a vehicle that he was attempting to stop. And on that day, Border Patrol agents observed both a Ford pickup truck and a Hummer crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. It was near Yuma, Arizona, and they began pursuit. The drivers of the two vehicles saw that the agents were following them, and they turned back toward the border. But as Agent Aguilar deployed spike strips, he was intentionally struck by the driver of that Hummer. His death serves for us as another stark reminder of the dangerous environment our Border Patrol faces every day. Violence against Border Patrol agents, I sadly report, is increasing in the United States. It has gone up 31 percent. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of incidents rose from 752 attacks to 987 against our Border Patrol agents. Agents are being assaulted with an arsenal of weaponry that includes bottles and knives, bats, ball bearings, steel pipes, cinder blocks, slingshots and vehicles.”