Statement on Signing the Bill Authorizing a Congressional Gold Medal Honoring the Late Representative Leo J. Ryan

Statement on Signing the Bill Authorizing a Congressional Gold Medal Honoring the Late Representative Leo J. Ryan

November 18, 1983: I am pleased today to affix my signature to the bill H.R. 3348, honoring the late Congressman Leo J. Ryan by authorizing a special Congressional Gold Medal of appropriate design to be struck and presented to his family.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day Leo Ryan was tragically struck down by an assassin's bullet on a faraway airport runway in Guyana. As his colleagues have noted in their tribute to him, it was typical of Leo Ryan's concern for his constituents that he would investigate personally the rumors of mistreatment in Jonestown that reportedly affected so many from his district.

Leo Ryan is the 88th recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal and only the 4th Member of Congress to receive this high honor from his colleagues.

President Ronald Reagan