[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING THE 217TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICE

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                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 217th anniversary 
of the United States Marshals Service, our Nation's oldest Federal law 
enforcement agency. The men and women who proudly wear ``America's 
Star'' have been involved in some of the most historic events in our 
Nation's history, and I am proud to commend them on this significant 
occasion.
  The first 13 United States Marshals were appointed by President 
George Washington in 1789 with their primary mission being to support 
the Federal courts. As times changed, so did the mission of the U.S. 
Marshals Service. However, they have answered the call to duty without 
exception.
  In the early years, U.S. marshals and deputy U.S. marshals executed 
warrants, distributed presidential proclamations, protected the 
president, registered enemy aliens in times of war, pursued 
counterfeiters, and helped conduct the national census. The Marshals 
Service maintained law and order in the ``Wild West,'' kept the trains 
rolling during the Pullman strike, and enforced the 18th amendment 
during Prohibition.
  On November 14, 1960, four deputy U.S. marshals accompanied 6-year 
old Ruby Bridges to elementary school after a Federal judge ordered the 
desegregation of the New Orleans public school system. In 1962, when 
James Meredith sought to legally become the first black person to 
attend the University of Mississippi, the duty of upholding the Federal 
law allowing him to do so fell upon the shoulders of 127 deputy 
marshals from all over the country. They acted with the highest degree 
of professionalism and honor during this turbulent season in civil 
rights history.
  Their accomplishments in recent decades are too numerous to cite, but 
extraordinary in their commitment to law and order. The U.S. Marshals 
provided security to 18 airports in the hours and days following the 
attacks on 9/11, played an instrumental role in the ``D.C. sniper'' 
investigation, were deployed to the gulf coast after Hurricane Katrina, 
and provided security for the trials of Oklahoma bombing suspect 
Timothy McVeigh and AI-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
  Over the past 217 years, the Marshals Service has grown and evolved 
into a modern law enforcement agency, still charged with protecting the 
Federal judiciary, but also apprehending dangerous fugitives, 
conducting protective operations, ensuring the security of witnesses 
and their dependents, providing for the custody and transportation of 
Federal prisoners, managing the Federal Government's seized asset 
program, and conducting special operations as required by the Attorney 
General. No other law enforcement agency has as many diverse missions 
as the U.S. Marshals Service. Among their most innovative efforts is 
their newly created Fugitive Safe Surrender Initiative, a unique 
fugitive apprehension program that has already netted the peaceful 
surrender of hundreds of fugitives across this country in a community 
coordinated and faith-based environment.
  Every day, deputy U.S. marshals carry out complex and life-
threatening missions with integrity, skill, and valor. I commend 
Director John Clark and the 5,000 men and women of the Marshals 
Service, who are justifiably proud of their agency and their history. I 
am proud of them as well, and appreciate their contribution to this 
Nation as they celebrate their 217th anniversary.

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