[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1382 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 29, 2008.
Whereas the Coast Guard, including its predecessor organizations, has a long and 
        distinguished heritage dating back to the very first Congress in 1789;
Whereas the Coast Guard is now in its 219th year of protecting the coast, saving 
        life and property, protecting the environment, and ensuring the safety 
        of life and property at sea;
Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have been responsible 
        for safe navigation since Congress--

    (1) authorized ``the necessary support, maintenance and repairs of all 
lighthouse, beacons, buoys'', and specifically authorized the construction 
of the first Federal lighthouse at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on 
August 7, 1789; and

    (2) established the Lighthouse Board on October 9, 1852;

Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have, since September 
        1, 1789, been responsible for registering (documenting) vessels of the 
        United States;
Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have protected the 
        coast since Congress authorized the President to build and equip ten 
        revenue cutters, on August 4, 1790, which were to be paid for from 
        ``duties on goods, wares and merchandise, imported into the United 
        States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels'';
Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have inspected vessels 
        since Congress adopted, on July 7, 1838, an Act ``to provide better 
        security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in 
        whole or in part by steam'', thus beginning the Steamboat Inspection 
        Service;
Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have conducted 
        lifesaving operations along our coasts since Congress first appropriated 
        funding for life-saving equipment for the use of volunteers on August 
        14, 1848, the first lifesaving stations were authorized on June 20, 
        1874, and the Life-Saving Service was established by Act of Congress on 
        June 19, 1878;
Whereas the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations have had 
        ``superintendence of all commercial marine and merchant seamen of the 
        United States . . .''; been ``charged with the supervision of the laws 
        relating to the admeasurement of vessels, and the assigning of signal 
        letters thereto, and designating their official number . . .''; and 
        ``annually prepare and publish a list of vessels of the United States . 
        . .'' since Congress established Shipping Commissioners on June 7, 1872, 
        and established the Bureau of Navigation on July 5, 1884;
Whereas the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service were merged, by 
        Act of Congress signed into law on January 28, 1915, to form the Coast 
        Guard as an agency of the Department of the Treasury;
Whereas the Lighthouse Service became part of the Coast Guard on July 1, 1939, 
        as part of a government reorganization plan adopted by Congress on April 
        3, 1939;
Whereas the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (a merger of the 
        Steamboat Inspection Service and the Bureau of Navigation) became part 
        of the Coast Guard in another reorganization in July 1946;
Whereas the Coast Guard was transferred from the Department of the Treasury to 
        the newly established Department of Transportation on April 1, 1967; and
Whereas the Coast Guard was transferred to the newly established Department of 
        Homeland Security in March 2003: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes and honors all the 
men and women of the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations since August 
7, 1789.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.