[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF SEAPORTS TO THE ECONOMY AND NATIONAL 
                     SECURITY OF THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANICE HAHN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 12, 2013

  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, even before coming to Congress, ports have 
been a top priority for me. I served on the Los Angeles city council 
for 10 years and represented the Port of Los Angeles--that, with the 
Port of Long Beach, are America's ports.
  When I arrived in Congress, I wanted to raise awareness of ports and 
their impact on our Nation's economy. So, I, along with my Republican 
colleague Rep. Ted Poe, started the bi-partisan PORTS Caucus to educate 
our colleagues and include ports in our national dialogue. We took the 
next step in that mission by reintroducing a resolution honoring our 
ports.
  The United States is served by more than 350 commercial sea and river 
ports that support 3,200 cargo and passenger handling facilities. Each 
day United States ports move both imports and exports totaling some 
$3.8 billion worth of goods through all 50 States. Additionally, ports 
move 99.4 percent of overseas cargo volume by weight and generate $3.95 
trillion in international trade. These numbers speak for themselves: 
ports are a crucial component of our national economy, and they deserve 
Congress' attention.
  This resolution honors both the tremendous contribution ports make to 
our national economy and the extraordinary service of Americans 
employed at our Nation's ports. I urge my colleagues to support this 
resolution in order to advance our national dialogue on ports.

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