History -
Bicentennial of the U.S. Marshals Service

President George Bush issued the following proclamation on September 21, 1989:
Two hundred years ago, on September 24, 1789,
President George Washington signed into law Senate
Bill Number One, known as the Judiciary Act. This
Act established the Federal judicial system and created
the Office of the United States Marshal. Only two days
later, President Washington nominated the first United
States Marshals responsible for enforcing the Nation's
laws and carrying out the orders of its courts.
Since then, United States Marshals and their Deputies
have participated in many events shaping the development
of our federal system of government. For
more than a century, Marshals and their Deputies were
the only civilian police power available to assist the
President, the Congress, and the courts in upholding
the rule of law in our rapidly expanding country.
As American pioneers pushed to the West, U.S. Marshals
faced grave dangers and constant hardship on the
frontier. They later helped to maintain social order
and facilitate the difficult task of Reconstruction following
the Civil War. United States Marshals also played a
vital role in enforcing provisions of the Civil Rights Act
during the turbulent years of the 1960s. During two
centuries of service to our country, more than 300
United States Marshals and Deputy Marshals have died
in the line of duty. Their supreme sacrifice reveals the
great personal risks that U.S. Marshals continue to accept
each day.
Today, United States Marshals are engaged in virtually
every Federal law enforcement initiative. Marshals
provide for the security of Federal courts, including the
protection of judges, witnesses, jurors, and other court
personnel. They play a major role in the pursuit and
capture of fugitives from justice, and Federal prisoners
awaiting trail or sentencing are entrusted to their custody.
They also operate the Witness Protection Program,
which is responsible for protecting persons who
testify for the government in major criminal cases.
In one of their most important current functions,
U.S. Marshals administer the program under
which the assets and profits of drug traffickers
are seized, managed, and sold. The proceeds
from such sales are used in our Nation's fight
against crime and drug abuse. This summer
alone, the U.S. Marshals Service led an anti-drug
effort involving 10 local police agencies in the Nation's
Capital and its suburbs. That initiative resulted
in the arrest of hundreds of career drug
criminals and the closing of scores of suspected
"crack houses. "
An unfailing respect for the rule of law and the
rights of individual Americans has motivated the
courageous men and women of the United States
Marshals Service throughout its history. Their
legacy of personal sacrifice and public service
merits the appreciation of every American.
In recognition of the vital efforts of our Nation's
oldest law enforcement agency, the Congress,
by Senate Joint Resolution 352 (Public Law
100-683) has designated September 24, 1989, as
"United States Marshals Bicentennial Day" and
has authorized and requested the President to issue
a proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH,
President of the United States of America, do
hereby proclaim September 24, 1989, as United
States Marshals Bicentennial Day. I call upon the
people of the United States to observe this day
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,
in recognition of the United States Marshals'
important role in defending individual rights
and upholding the rule of law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set
my hand this twenty-first day of September, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and
eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and
fourteenth.
GEORGE BUSH
|