Mr. ROSS of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 886, the United States Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act.

I'm proud to be an original cosponsor of this bill and to work very closely with my colleague from Arkansas, Mr. Womack, to issue a commemorative coin honoring the 225th anniversary of the United States Marshals Service in helping to raise money for the U.S. Marshals museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The very first Congress with its very first bill created the U.S. Marshals Service when President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789. This was the same bill that created the entire Federal judicial system, and today the U.S. Marshals Service remains the Nation's oldest Federal law enforcement agency.

My home State of Arkansas has a proud chapter in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service. As a young State, Arkansas sat on the western edge of a growing Nation in the late 1800s, and it would be the U.S. Marshals and their deputies based out of Forth Smith, Arkansas, that had jurisdiction over74,000 square miles, an area where countless numbers of dangerous criminals fled into Indian territory to escape prosecution.  

Home to Judge Parker's courthouse, Fort Smith became the center of law and order in the Western United States throughout much of the late 19th century.  Charles Portis' 1968 novel ``True Grit'' first introduced Fort Smith, Arkansas, to many Americans and its role in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service. An Arkansan born and raised in El Dorado, Arkansas, in my congressional district, Charles Portis later saw his novel turned into the 1969 movie starring Arkansas native and recording artist, singer Glen Campbell, and John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn; and more recently, the 2010 remake of the movie featuring Jeff Bridges in the same role.

The importance of Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the U.S. Marshals Service is in part why the city will also be home to the U.S. Marshals museum, to be funded partly by sales from the U.S. Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin. When finished, the U.S. Marshals museum will be a world class national museum with over 20,000 square feet helping to share the history and legacy of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Most importantly, it will serve as a memorial for all of those within the U.S. Marshals Service who gave their lives in service to our country.

Today more than 4,000 U.S. Marshals, deputy marshals, and criminal investigators make up the modern U.S. Marshals Service, carrying out many of the duties first assigned to them more than two centuries ago.

Our U.S. Marshals and deputy marshals protect the Federal judicial system, apprehend Federal fugitives, seize property, house and transport Federal prisoners, and operate the witness security program. They continue to risk their lives to preserve and protect law and order, the very basic tenet of our American democracy and, yes, our way of life.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, which will not add a single dime to the deficit, will allow our Nation to recognize, honor, and thank the sacrifices that so many U.S. marshals and deputy marshals have made to this country over the past 225 years. It will also generate revenue from the U.S. Marshals Service 225th anniversary Commemorative Coin sales to help build a museum in their honor in Fort Smith, Arkansas, so that this generation and the generations that follow will know the truly American story of the U.S. Marshals Service.

So, Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to join my colleague from Arkansas (Mr. Womack) in offering up a bipartisan bill, and I'm asking you to join me in voting for H.R. 886, the United States Marshals Service 225th Anniversary

Commemorative Coin Act. Again I'd like to thank the gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Womack, for his steadfast leadership and hard work to see this day become a reality.