The goal of the fund was to maintain the memorial, add names to it as warranted, and to establish a scholarship program for family members of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.

The first commemorative coin authorized by Congress was the George Washington 250th Anniversary silver half-dollar, released in 1982.

[1] By the mid-1990s, however, an ever-growing number of groups were pressing Congress to authorize more commemorative coins, even though no official mechanism for their design, minting, and sales existed within the United States Treasury.

The legislation regulated the coin program It was referred to the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services.

By the time the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy favorably forwarded the bill to the full committee, H.R.

5428) which added the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial to those commemorative coin programs authorized by the bill.

[2] Title I of the act established the Commemorative Coin Program within the United States Treasury.

[5] Title II of the act created the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Maintenance Fund.

Surcharges from the sale of commemorative coins raised more than $484.9 million fiscal year ending on September 30, 2010.

[12] In fiscal 2013 alone, the U.S. Mint turned over $5 million in unclaimed surcharge income to the U.S. Treasury after recipients were unable to raise the matching funds.