[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 986 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 986

   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
 Congress to John Walsh in recognition of his outstanding and enduring 
contributions to American society in the fields of law enforcement and 
                            victims' rights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 1999

  Mr. Barcia (for himself, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Royce, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. 
   McHugh, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Taylor of Mississippi, Mr. Underwood, Ms. 
 Kilpatrick, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Ney, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Clay, 
Mrs. Kelly, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. 
  Brady of Pennsylvania, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Pastor, Mrs. Jones of 
Ohio, Mr. Turner, Mr. Combest, Mr. Foley, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Knollenberg, 
 Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Luther, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Kuykendall, 
 and Mr. Sandlin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
            the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
 Congress to John Walsh in recognition of his outstanding and enduring 
contributions to American society in the fields of law enforcement and 
                            victims' rights.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) John Walsh, host of Fox Television's ``America's Most 
        Wanted'' television program, has dedicated his life to the 
        pursuit and apprehension of felons and fugitives who have 
        committed murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, pedophilia, and 
        other atrocious crimes against the citizens of the United 
        States;
            (2) in doing so, John Walsh has sacrificed his own personal 
        safety and freedom for the good of all Americans;
            (3) on July 27, 1981, Adam Walsh, the 6-year-old son of 
        John Walsh, was abducted and brutally murdered;
            (4) John Walsh and his family have never obtained closure 
        for this heinous crime, because no person was ever charged with 
        the crime and the prime suspect ultimately died in prison;
            (5) after the death of his son, John Walsh became a 
        tireless advocate for victims' rights;
            (6) John Walsh has testified more than 35 times before the 
        Congress in support of legislation, and his efforts led to the 
        passage in 1982 of the Missing Children Act and in 1984 of the 
        Missing Children's Assistance Act, which established the 
        National Center for Missing and Exploited Children;
            (7) John Walsh has also lobbied for a constitutional 
        amendment that would secure victims' rights;
            (8) John Walsh, not ceasing his dedication to the safety 
        and welfare of children with the enactment of new protective 
        statutes, established a public information television program, 
        ``America's Most Wanted'', to expose the criminal activity of 
        various fugitives throughout the United States and abroad;
            (9) four days after the debut of the program, on February 
        11, 1988, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the 
        capture in New York City of one of its 10 Most Wanted 
        fugitives, David James Roberts, as a direct result of tips from 
        viewers of the program;
            (10) on May 29, 1988, FBI Director William Sessions 
        appeared on ``America's Most Wanted'' to announce the addition 
        of three new fugitives to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, one of 
        whom was captured within 24 hours after the announcement;
            (11) on July 17, 1988, Robert Wayne Fisher, a fugitive 
        wanted for the murder of his wife, was captured just 33 minutes 
        after John Walsh profiled him on ``America's Most Wanted'';
            (12) on May 7, 1989, John Walsh facilitated the capture of 
        a New Jersey mass murderer who had been at large for nearly 18 
        years;
            (13) John Walsh profiled 1,455 fugitives from justice on 
        ``America's Most Wanted'' as of December 3, 1998, 914 of whom 
        have been captured, including 538 who were captured as a direct 
        result of being profiled;
            (14) on May 10, 1990, John Walsh and ``America's Most 
        Wanted'' for the first time helped recover a missing child, 
        Nicole Ravesi, and aided in the arrest of her abductor, Kenneth 
        Cole;
            (15) in all, John Walsh has profiled 348 cases involving 
        missing or kidnapped persons, 150 of whom have been reunited 
        with their families;
            (16) John Walsh has profiled 100 criminal suspects whose 
        identities were unknown to law enforcement officials, and 24 of 
        the suspects have been identified as a result of being 
        profiled;
            (17) at the request of law enforcement officials, John 
        Walsh has also profiled 17 unidentified victims of foul play, 
        and eight of the victims have been identified as a result of 
        being profiled;
            (18) the outstanding contributions of John Walsh to crime 
        victims and the law enforcement community have come at no cost 
        to the taxpayers of the United States; and
            (19) John Walsh, through ``America's Most Wanted'' and 
        through other endeavors, continues to serve law enforcement 
        officials and crime victims through his unfailing dedication to 
        pursuing and capturing dangerous fugitives, protecting the 
        safety of children, and bringing closure to victims of crime in 
        the United States.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to 
present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design 
to John Walsh in recognition of his outstanding and enduring 
contributions to American society in the fields of law enforcement and 
victims' rights.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, 
to be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriation.--Effective February 1, 1999, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $30,000 to carry out this 
section.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    (a) Striking and Sale.--The Secretary of the Treasury may strike 
and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 
sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, 
use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold 
medal.
    (b) Reimbursement of Appropriation.--The appropriation used to 
carry out section 2 shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds of sales 
under subsection (a).

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

    The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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