[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S9610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S9610]]
 TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES CUSTOMS SERVICE ON ITS 209TH ANNIVERSARY 
                        SINCE IT WAS ESTABLISHED

 Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
men and women of the U.S. Customs Service as it celebrates its 209th 
anniversary today.
  As our young nation was on the verge of economic despair and in 
search of revenue, the First Congress passed and President George 
Washington signed into law the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which 
authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. This, the fifth 
act of the 1st Congress, established Customs and its ports of entry as 
the collector and protector of the revenue on July 31, 1789, 
essentially creating what we now know as the U.S. Customs Service.
  For approximately 125 years, until the passage of the Federal Income 
Tax Act in 1913, Customs provided our federal government with its only 
source of revenue. During this time, the incoming revenue from Customs 
funded the purchases of Alaska and Florida, and the territories of 
Louisiana and Oregon. In addition, Customs collections built 
Washington, D.C., the U.S. military and naval academies, and many of 
the nation's lighthouses from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Most impressively, by 1835, Customs revenues alone reduced the national 
debt to zero.
  Customs offices first appeared in Minnesota around 1851, seven years 
before Minnesota achieved statehood. Minnesota's geographical layout as 
head of three great navigation systems--the Red River to the North, the 
Mississippi to the south, the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River to the 
east, and 395 miles along the Canadian border to the north--was a key 
to handling the traffic of people and goods that passed through these 
ports.
  In its first year of existence, Customs collected $2 million in 
revenue in 59 ports of entry. Today, the U.S. Customs Service has a 
total of 301 ports of entry which collect over $20 billion annually in 
revenue. In addition, Customs processes over 450 million persons 
entering the United States each year. As for Minnesota, there are 14 
ports of entry throughout the entire state. These ports of entry 
collected nearly $2 billion in revenue for the U.S. Customs Service 
during FY 1997. Besides all the products that are processed, many 
people enter the United States through Minnesota. An estimated 1.1 
million people have entered through Minnesota's ports of entry since 
last October alone. This number continues to grow at an increasing rate 
over previous years.
  The U.S. Customs Service has grown from being the chief collector of 
revenue on imports into what has become our nation's first defense 
against the threat of terrorism, combatting the illegal drug trade, and 
ensuring that all imports and exports comply with U.S. laws and 
regulations.
  Mr. President, I commend the U.S. Customs Service for its long 
history protecting the American public. But most of all, I want to pay 
tribute to the many men and women who continue to stand as symbols of 
national pride and enforce the mission of the U.S. Customs Service: to 
ensure that all goods and persons entering and exiting the United 
States do so in accordance with all United States laws and 
regulations.

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