[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 25 (Friday, February 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF THE CENTENNIAL OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY MANUFACTURING IN 
                             LOUISVILLE, KY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN A. YARMUTH

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 15, 2013

  Mr. YARMUTH. Mr. Speaker, 100 years ago, the Ford Motor Company began 
assembling automobiles in a small facility at 931 South Third Street in 
my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. There, 17 employees built as many 
as 12 Model Ts a day.
  A century later, Ford remains an integral part of the economic, 
social, and cultural heritage of Louisville and the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky.
  Between the recently retooled Louisville Assembly Plant and the 
Kentucky Truck Plant, Ford now employs more than 8,500 people in 
Louisville, where it continues to innovate and expand. On the road to 
that success, Ford and the River City have passed countless milestones 
together.
  It was generations ago in Louisville when Ford began using the new 
automotive integrated assembly line, changing the old manner of 
building one car at a time and beginning a new era of industrial 
progress and growth.
  It was in Louisville where one of the largest auto-worker union 
Locals in the nation, Local 862, was chartered on June 23, 1941, as the 
first United Auto Workers--Committee for Industrial Organization Local 
in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. To this day, Ford and UAW maintain a 
strong relationship that has been critical to its success.
  It was in Louisville where a revitalized Ford met the postwar 
economic boom with the debut and production of the 1949 Ford, the first 
vehicle integration of body and fenders, which would set the standard 
for auto design in the future.
  It was in Louisville where Ford built the South's biggest 
manufacturing facility under one roof, and then built a bigger one in 
1955--the one-million-square-foot Assembly Plant at 2000 Fern Valley 
Road--and, again, in 1969, built the largest truck plant in the world, 
the Kentucky Truck Plant on Chamberlain Lane.
  And it was in Louisville where, facing a changing economy and an 
uncertain future for American manufacturing, I worked closely with Ford 
leadership and then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to secure federal 
investments that would enable Ford to retool the Louisville Assembly 
Plant, hire more than 3,000 new workers, and begin making the vehicles 
of the future.
  Today, the Louisville Assembly Plant is the largest Ford facility in 
North America, employing nearly 4,800 people who are producing a 2013 
Escape every 44 seconds--faster and more efficiently than any other in 
Ford's history. The company supports tens of thousands of jobs 
throughout our region, helping strengthen Louisville families and our 
entire economic community. And in Louisville, we have shown the nation 
that the best days of American manufacturing haven't passed us by--they 
are signposts on the road ahead.
  Mr. Speaker, as Ford Motor Company moves into the next 100 years of 
manufacturing in Louisville, I am confident they will continue to build 
on their impressive legacy, sustain our highly skilled Ford-UAW 
Louisville workforce, and work with leaders throughout our community to 
continue building innovative, world-class, high-quality vehicles for 
generations to come.
  Congratulations to John Savona, Plant Manager of the Louisville 
Assembly Plant; Joe Bobnar, Plant Manager of the Kentucky Truck Plant; 
Steve Stone, Louisville Assembly Plant Building Chairman for the UAW-
Local 862; Scott Eskridge, Kentucky Truck Plant Building Chairman for 
the UAW-Local 862; Todd Dunn, President of the UAW-Local 862; and to 
all the employees and retirees of Ford Motor Company on 100 years of 
success in Louisville.

                          ____________________