I

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) John Walsh, host of Fox Television’s

2 ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’ television program, has

3 dedicated his life to the pursuit and apprehension of

4 felons and fugitives who have committed murder,

5 rape, robbery, kidnapping, pedophilia, and other

6 atrocious crimes against the citizens of the United

7 States;

8 (2) in doing so, John Walsh has sacrificed his

9 own personal safety and freedom for the good of all

10 Americans;

11 (3) on July 27, 1981, Adam Walsh, the 6-year12 old son of John Walsh, was abducted and brutally

13 murdered;

14 (4) John Walsh and his family have never ob15 tained closure for this heinous crime, because no

16 person was ever charged with the crime and the

17 prime suspect ultimately died in prison;

18 (5) after the death of his son, John Walsh be19 came a tireless advocate for victims’ rights;

20 (6) John Walsh has testified more than 35

21 times before the Congress in support of legislation,

22 and his efforts led to the passage in 1982 of the

23 Missing Children Act and in 1984 of the Missing

24 Children’s Assistance Act, which established the Na25 tional Center for Missing and Exploited Children;
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1 (7) John Walsh has also lobbied for a constitu2 tional amendment that would secure victims’ rights;

3 (8) John Walsh, not ceasing his dedication to

4 the safety and welfare of children with the enact5 ment of new protective statutes, established a public

6 information television program, ‘‘America’s Most

7 Wanted’’, to expose the criminal activity of various

8 fugitives throughout the United States and abroad;

9 (9) four days after the debut of the program,

10 on February 11, 1988, the Federal Bureau of Inves11 tigation announced the capture in New York City of

12 one of its 10 Most Wanted fugitives, David James

13 Roberts, as a direct result of tips from viewers of

14 the program;

15 (10) on May 29, 1988, FBI Director William

16 Sessions appeared on ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’ to

17 announce the addition of three new fugitives to the

18 FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, one of whom was cap19 tured within 24 hours after the announcement;

20 (11) on July 17, 1988, Robert Wayne Fisher,

21 a fugitive wanted for the murder of his wife, was

22 captured just 33 minutes after John Walsh profiled

23 him on ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’;
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1 (12) on May 7, 1989, John Walsh facilitated

2 the capture of a New Jersey mass murderer who

3 had been at large for nearly 18 years;

4 (13) John Walsh profiled 1,455 fugitives from

5 justice on ‘‘America’s Most Wanted’’ as of December

6 3, 1998, 914 of whom have been captured, including

7 538 who were captured as a direct result of being

8 profiled;

9 (14) on May 10, 1990, John Walsh and ‘‘Amer10 ica’s Most Wanted’’ for the first time helped recover

11 a missing child, Nicole Ravesi, and aided in the ar12 rest of her abductor, Kenneth Cole;

13 (15) in all, John Walsh has profiled 348 cases

14 involving missing or kidnapped persons, 150 of

15 whom have been reunited with their families;

16 (16) John Walsh has profiled 100 criminal sus17 pects whose identities were unknown to law enforce18 ment officials, and 24 of the suspects have been

19 identified as a result of being profiled;

20 (17) at the request of law enforcement officials,

21 John Walsh has also profiled 17 unidentified victims

22 of foul play, and eight of the victims have been iden23 tified as a result of being profiled;

24 (18) the outstanding contributions of John

25 Walsh to crime victims and the law enforcement
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1 community have come at no cost to the taxpayers of

2 the United States; and

3 (19) John Walsh, through ‘‘America’s Most

4 Wanted’’ and through other endeavors, continues to

5 serve law enforcement officials and crime victims

6 through his unfailing dedication to pursuing and

7 capturing dangerous fugitives, protecting the safety

8 of children, and bringing closure to victims of crime

9 in the United States.

10 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

11 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

12 authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold

13 medal of appropriate design to John Walsh in recognition

14 of his outstanding and enduring contributions to American

15 society in the fields of law enforcement and victims’ rights.

16 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the

17 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary

18 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em19 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the

20 Secretary.

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—Effective

22 February 1, 1999, there are authorized to be appropriated

23 $30,000 to carry out this section.
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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

2 (a) STRIKING AND SALE.—The Secretary of the

3 Treasury may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the

4 gold medal struck under section 2 under such regulations

5 as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to

6 cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use

7 of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the

8 gold medal.

9 (b) REIMBURSEMENT OF APPROPRIATION.—The ap10 propriation used to carry out section 2 shall be reimbursed

11 out of the proceeds of sales under subsection (a).

12 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

13 The medals struck under this Act are national medals

14 for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

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