[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 113 (Monday, September 12, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9927-S9928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ADDITIONAL STATEMENT

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                     TRIBUTE TO HOMER A. MAXEY, JR.

 Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, on the occasion of the 33rd annual 
convention of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones, NAFTZ, 
which is meeting this week in my home State of Hawaii, I rise today to 
pay tribute to the cofounder of the NAFTZ, my good friend, Homer A. 
Maxey, Jr., who I have known for more than a quarter century.
  The NAFTZ was conceived in November of 1972, at an informal meeting 
of foreign-trade zone representatives from various States. At that 
meeting, Homer A. Maxey, Jr., was selected chairman of a committee to 
develop the organizational framework for a formal association 
representing FTZ grantees and operators in the U.S. During a conference 
of FTZ managers in Washington, DC, on May 8, 1973, the NAFTZ was 
officially launched and Homer was elected to serve as the first 
President of this Association from 1973 to 1975. Homer was elected, by 
unanimous vote of the members, as the first Honorary Life Member at the 
NAFTZ Annual Conference in 1979. He has served on many different 
Committees of the NAFTZ including: the Oil Refinery Sub-Zone Task 
Force, ORSTF, the Operations Committee, Nominations Committee, the Long 
Range Planning Committee, and several task forces. Today the NAFTZ 
represents over 800 members comprised of State and local government 
agencies, public entities, individuals and corporations involved in the 
Foreign-Trade Zone program. The NAFTZ plays an important role in 
facilitating international trade and U.S. competitiveness through the 
promotion and support of the Foreign-Trade Zones Program.
  The Foreign-Trade Zones Program was created by an act of Congress in 
1934. Its purpose is to encourage domestic warehousing, manufacturing 
and processing activity. States and local governments use foreign-trade 
zones as part of their overall economic development strategy and to 
improve the international business sector in their communities. FTZs 
contribute to the enhancement of the U.S. investment climate for 
commerce and industry. The FTZ program encourages capital investment in 
the U.S. rather than abroad and secures American jobs. The benefit 
occurs only if the activity takes place in the U.S. It substitutes 
U.S.-produced merchandise and labor for foreign imports. Today there 
are 260 approved general-purpose zones and 534 subzones located in all 
50 States and Puerto Rico. According to the latest available annual 
report of the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, the total value of merchandise 
received at foreign-trade zones annually exceeds $200 billion. Over 
2,200 firms in the U.S. utilize foreign-trade zones and employment at 
these facilities exceeds 300,000.
  During his involvement with the NAFTZ, Homer Maxey has played an 
instrumental role in the growth and development of the U.S. Foreign-
Trade Zones Program. For instance, he was instrumental in a number of 
issues, challenges, and accomplishments of the program, including 
spearheading customs regulations to limit customs duties on merchandise 
manufactured in FTZs to foreign material only; streamlining FTZ 
inventory recordkeeping; creating uniform FTZ management practices 
nationally; securing weekly entry for manufacturing; eliminating 
activation and annual fees on foreign-trade zones; allowing users of 
foreign-trade zones to defer entry and payment of duty on foreign 
production machinery used in FTZs until such time that the equipment 
goes into commercial production, and eliminating the merchandise 
processing fee on domestic materials shipped from FTZs.
  At the same time Homer Maxey directed General Purpose Foreign-Trade 
Zone No. 9 in Hawaii, which was established in February 1965. Homer was 
the Administrator for the State of Hawaii's Foreign-Trade Zone project 
from 1965 through 1993. During his management of the zone, the first 
FTZ oil refinery was established on Oahu. Thereafter, the program in 
Hawaii grew under his direction to include today five General-Purpose 
Zone sites and five Subzones handling $2.04 billion worth of 
merchandise from 341 firms, with exports of $290,980,773 and employing 
a total of 2,683 people in zone-related activities. From its modest 
beginnings with 40,000 square feet originally approved, the General 
Purpose Zone project grew to involve 15 percent of the designated 
industrial lands on the Island of Oahu.

[[Page S9928]]

  After attending the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Mr. Maxey was 
employed by Hawaiian Airlines. He served in the U.S. Air Force during 
the early 1950s. He was employed by Matson Lines, 1955-1965, in 
passenger sales, freight traffic and marine operations. He has also 
been active in the Hawaii/Pacific Export Council, the Propeller Club of 
the Port of Honolulu, and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. Mr. Maxey 
has also been a consultant to the State of Hawaii, the County of 
Hawaii, and Foreign-Trade Zone No. 9.
  It is my honor to recognize the lifelong contributions of Homer Maxey 
to the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Program and the State of Hawaii. I wish 
Homer and his wife, Mahina, all the best in the future.

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