[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 822 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 822
Recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Port of
Los Angeles.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 13, 2007
Ms. Richardson (for herself, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Harman, Mr. Schiff,
Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Watson, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mrs.
Tauscher, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Waxman, Ms. Solis, Ms.
Waters, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Gary G. Miller of
California, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Dreier, Mr.
McCarthy of California, Mr. Campbell of California, Ms. Matsui, Mrs.
Capps, Mr. McKeon, and Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Port of
Los Angeles.
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 boats and ships 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 which saw Matson Navigation Co.
starting full container service in 1960 with the Hawaiian Citizen;
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,
operated by Maersk Sealand and APM Terminals, 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.
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