[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 149 (Tuesday, December 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1758-E1759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN RECOGNITION OF THE SAN BRUNO CENTENNIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 9, 2014

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the 100th birthday of the 
city of San Bruno, California, a city of about 40,000 residents 
spreading over 5.5 square miles between the flat lowlands near San 
Francisco Bay and the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains rising 700 
feet above the Pacific Ocean. San Bruno is adjacent to San Francisco 
International Airport and bestrides the Golden Gate National Cemetery. 
San Bruno is located in my Congressional District and its scenic beauty 
and community life make it one of the most beloved cities on the 
Peninsula.
  San Bruno is filled with natural beauty and stunning views of the 
ocean and bay. It has superb schools, a beautiful main city park, and 
top-notch businesses. The city has also contributed to popular culture 
and sports as it is the hometown of actress Suzanne Somers, soprano 
Luana DeVol, musician Ron ``Pigpen'' McKernan and three famous baseball 
players: Wally Bunker, Keith Hernandez and Pablo Sandoval.
  Long before the city of San Bruno was incorporated, the Ohlone people 
lived in a village here named Urebure. In 1769, the area was explored 
by a Spanish expedition led by Gaspar de Portola, followed by a more 
extensive exploration by Bruno de Heceta. That second exploration 
resulted in the naming of San Bruno Creek which eventually gave the 
community its name.
  When Mission San Francisco de Asis was established to the north, much 
of the land around today's San Bruno became pasture for livestock. 
Grazing continued even after the decline of the missions.

[[Page E1759]]

  The city had its origins in Clark's Station, an 1849 inn that served 
as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route. This inn 
was eventually renamed Uncle Tom's Cabin. Significant development of 
San Bruno didn't begin until after the 1906 earthquake. The first 
public school was completed that year. The paving of California's first 
state highway, El Camino Real, began in 1912 in front of Uncle Tom's 
Cabin, eventually replaced by 14 Mile House and subsequently by other 
structures and businesses. In 1914, San Bruno was incorporated 
following a campaign by the San Bruno Herald, the local newspaper. 
Incorporation allowed more streets to be paved and the population 
rapidly grew from 1,500 residents in 1920 to 3,610 residents in 1930.
  San Francisco International Airport opened in 1927. One of the first 
visitors to SFO was Charles Lindbergh after his historic transatlantic 
flight. More aviation history was made when Eugene Ely completed the 
first successful shipboard aircraft landing, taking off from San 
Bruno's Tanforan race track, and landing on the USS Pennsylvania 
anchored in San Francisco Bay.
  Golden Gate National Cemetery was created in 1939 under the direction 
of the Presidio in San Francisco. Today, the cemetery is the hallowed 
final resting place of citizen soldiers who defended our freedom from 
World War II to the present. San Bruno annually honors their sacrifices 
through multiple ceremonies great and small. This is a community that 
cherishes those who gave their all so that all might live in freedom 
and at peace.
  The era of World War II left a dark stain on American history in the 
form of the internment of Japanese American citizens. Tanforan race 
track became a temporary internment center. Today a memorial plaque at 
Tanforan mall serves as a reminder that we must learn from history and 
never again allow such an infringement on civil liberties.
  After the war, San Bruno continued to grow. U.S. Route 101, the 
Bayshore freeway, opened in 1947. San Bruno high school students had to 
travel to San Mateo and Burlingame, but in 1950, San Bruno finally had 
its own high school, Capuchino. Capuchino was the school of a 
remarkable history teacher who soon entered the State Assembly and then 
the House of Representatives: Leo J. Ryan. Congressman Ryan loved 
Capuchino and would sometimes reflect on the lessons that he learned in 
the classroom from his bright, energetic San Bruno students.
  In 1954, the city dedicated a library and city hall. Skyline College, 
a two year community college, was established in 1960. Later in the 
60s, Interstate 280 and 380 were built making San Bruno further 
accessible and attractive to retail businesses. In 2003, the Bay Area 
Rapid Transit system extended further into San Mateo County, and a 
station was opened in San Bruno, further tying this town to others in 
our region. Just this year, a new train station opened, making rail 
transit from San Francisco to San Jose even more convenient for San 
Bruno residents and markedly improving cross-town mobility and safety.
  Mr. Speaker, San Bruno's daily life is based upon families. Families 
go to its churches. Families flock to sporting events, including 
nationally-competitive youth baseball. Families play in San Bruno Park 
and walk throughout the community enjoying the small-town atmosphere 
that makes San Bruno so special. There might be some millionaires or 
someday perhaps even a billionaire living in San Bruno, but 
fundamentally the community is where American families live so that 
they may enjoy great schools and great fun amidst like-minded people 
dedicated to hard work, honest commerce, and civic engagement.
  Its 40,000 residents are a wonderful mix of ethnic backgrounds and 
ages. Under the steady guidance of Mayor Jim Ruane and councilmembers 
Rico Medina, Ken Ibarra, Irene O'Connell and Michael Salazar, City 
Manager Connie Jackson and an amazing city staff, San Bruno has reached 
the remarkable age of 100 years and yet it is still in its youth. No 
challenge, not even a 2010 explosion that cost the lives of eight 
precious souls and changed the laws of this nation, can dampen the love 
of residents for this beautiful city.
  Some like to define a city by its history, but I prefer to defy 
convention and to instead define it by the predominant characteristic 
of its residents. When people ask me to describe San Bruno I offer one 
word in reply: Optimism. It is the defining characteristic of those who 
create families, the defining characteristic of those who remain after 
their children have left, and the defining characteristic of a long 
series of public servants who have walked in the hills of San Bruno, 
gazed upon its boundaries, and seen only a bright future in the land 
that lies between a wonderful college in the hills, the grand city park 
in the south, the great bay to the east, and precious neighbors to the 
north. Optimism is the drummer boy in the parade of San Bruno's story.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to rise with me to 
celebrate the centennial of San Bruno, California. Yesterday, the 
Ohlone made their livelihoods upon its shores. Today, America thrives 
in its bosom. Tomorrow, history will be the child of its remarkable 
citizenry. Congratulations San Bruno, you are America's heartland upon 
its western shore!

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