[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 822 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      December 5, 2007.
Whereas on December 9, 1907, the Los Angeles City Council approved City 
        Ordinance No. 15621, creating the Board of Harbor Commissioners and 
        officially founding the Port of Los Angeles;
Whereas the Port of Los Angeles's earliest history was recorded by Portuguese 
        explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who named this natural harbor ``Bahia 
        de los Fumos'' or ``Bay of Smokes'' on October 8, 1542, when he noted 
        that the bay ``is an excellent harbor and the country is good with many 
        plains and groves of trees'';
Whereas in the 1850s, a spirited entrepreneur named Phineas Banning began the 
        first of a lifetime of ventures that would eventually earn him 
        distinction as the ``Father of Los Angeles Harbor'' by leading the 
        evolution of the harbor from a trading center for fur and hides to a hub 
        for more diverse commerce, largely through a freight and passenger 
        transportation business that grew into a shipping firm with 15 
        stagecoaches and 50 wagons serving five western States;
Whereas the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad began service between San Pedro 
        Bay and Los Angeles in 1869 as a 21-mile stretch of track comprising the 
        first railroad in Southern California and marking the beginning of a new 
        era of development for the harbor region;
Whereas proposals for new ports in present-day Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, and 
        Redondo Beach began surfacing in the late 1800s until 1897, when a five-
        man board of engineers, chaired by Rear Admiral John C. Walker, settled 
        the great free-harbor fight by recommending continued port development 
        in San Pedro Bay, resulting in additional improvements to the harbor 
        including the first 8,500-foot section of the Federal breakwater that 
        was completed in 1911, widening and dredging of the Main Channel to 
        accommodate the largest vessels of that era, and completion by the 
        Southern Pacific Railroad of its first major wharf in San Pedro, 
        allowing railcars to efficiently load and unload goods simultaneously;
Whereas the Port was involved in World War II on a massive scale, with every 
        vessel building operation assisting in the construction, conversion, and 
        repair of vessels for the war effort, and shipbuilding quickly became 
        the Port of Los Angeles's prime economic activity, with California 
        Shipbuilding Corp., Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Consolidated Steel 
        Corp., Todd Shipyards, and other enterprises collectively employing more 
        than 90,000 workers;
Whereas in August 1958, the HAWAIIAN MERCHANT delivered its first shipment of 20 
        cargo containers to the Port of Los Angeles, marking the beginning of 
        the containerized cargo revolution in California;
Whereas the Port was a principal partner of the $2,500,000,000 Alameda Corridor 
        project which opened in April 2002 as a 20-mile rail expressway that 
        reliably and efficiently connects the Port to America's transcontinental 
        rail system, a project which epitomizes the Port's involvement in 
        developing robust regional transportation infrastructure solutions by 
        working in partnership with local, regional, and statewide agencies to 
        improve goods movement systems;
Whereas the Port's 2004 completion of the nearly 500-acre Pier 400 container 
        complex as the largest single-user container terminal in the world has 
        been acclaimed as an engineering marvel and model of operational 
        efficiency;
Whereas the Port of Los Angeles has long recognized its responsibility for 
        infrastructure and operational improvements that are supportive of 
        sustainable growth compatible with environmental stewardship, the most 
        recent example being a historic November 2006 action by the Boards of 
        Harbor Commissioners of Los Angeles and Long Beach in approving an 
        aggressive plan to reduce air pollution by nearly 50 percent in 5 years, 
        making the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan the world's first 
        program addressing all port-related emission sources to significantly 
        reduce health risks posed by regional air pollution from port-related 
        operations;
Whereas the Port of Los Angeles is located in San Pedro Bay, California, and is 
        part of the Southern California port complex which handles more than 43 
        percent of all goods arriving in the United States, impacting over 
        1,000,000 jobs nationwide;
Whereas as a premier international gateway, the Port of Los Angeles is the 
        leading container handling port in the United States, with more than 
        8,500,000 TEU's (twenty-foot equivalent units) recorded in 2006, thus 
        retaining its stature as the leading United States containerport for the 
        seventh consecutive year;
Whereas the Port of Los Angeles as part of the San Predro Bay Port Complex has 
        grown 246 percent over the past 11 years, tripling its trade-related 
        jobs, generating $256,000,000,000 in commerce, and producing 
        $28,000,000,000 in tax revenue, and is expected to triple again the 
        amount of cargo handled by 2030;
Whereas in 2007, under the leadership of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, 
        President S. David Freeman and the Board of Harbor Commissioners, and 
        Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, the Port is celebrating its 
        Centennial, commemorating the great strides made in its 100-year 
        tradition of service as an international trade hub and maritime industry 
        leader; and
Whereas from its tradition of handling fishing, lumber, and hides at the turn of 
        the century to today's reputation for expeditiously moving a diverse, 
        unprecedented global cargo mix, the Port of Los Angeles now looks toward 
        its next 100 years with a legacy as an undisputed international leader 
        in setting global standards for industry-leading environmental 
        initiatives, terminal efficiency, and sustainable growth: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the 
        Port of Los Angeles, which is the Nation's largest containerport;
            (2) congratulates the Port of Los Angeles for its achievements as a 
        leader throughout its history in implementing modern and innovative 
        transportation and goods movements systems that are compatible with 
        responsible environmental stewardship; and
            (3) wishes the Port of Los Angeles continued success during its next 
        100 years as it strives to remain the Nation's largest and most 
        successful conveyor of the Nation's and the world's commerce.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.