[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WILMINGTON, CALIFORNIA CHAMBER 
                              OF COMMERCE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 13, 2004

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to celebrate today the 100th 
anniversary of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.
  Wilmington is known, thanks to our local chamber, as the ``Heart of 
the Harbor,'' and is our nation's gateway to the Pacific and beyond. 
The business members of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce serve one of 
our country's most vital economic engines, the Port of Los Angeles. The 
Wilmington Chamber of Commerce enhances the local business environment 
and helps to improve the quality of life in our community.
  The chamber's work builds on a long and auspicious history for the 
local community. When Phineas Banning founded Wilmington in 1858, he 
could hardly have imagined the impact that this small community would 
eventually come to have on the rest of the world. The second post 
office in Los Angeles County was opened here, and Wilmington was the 
lifeline to 215 army posts scattered throughout Arizona and New Mexico 
during the Civil War. Wilmington was no less important during the 
Second World War, when Navy ships were built on Terminal Island and 
contributed to winning the war in the Pacific.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce on 100 
years of remarkable service to the Wilmington community and the nation. 
I wish the Wilmington business community many more years of success.

                          ____________________