[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 5482-5483]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           JANEICE LONGORIA--A SPECIAL ADVOCATE FOR OUR PORTS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 17, 2013

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity 
to recognize the newest Chairman of the Port of Houston Commission, the 
first woman ever appointed to the position, Janeice Longoria. In my 
role as the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional PORTS Caucus, 
I have enjoyed working with the Port of Houston and was delighted to 
learn of Janeice's appointment back in January. Since she first joined 
the Port Commission in 2002, Janiece has been an effective advocate for 
the port. She has also been a strong voice for businesses along the 
ship channel and within port-related industries.
   Just a few weeks ago, Chairman Longoria joined me and several Texas-
based companies at a roundtable event that I hosted at the Port of 
Houston to help raise awareness about the need for Custom and Border 
Protection agents to share certain identifying information regarding 
potential counterfeit goods with intellectual property rights-holders. 
The roundtable focused on economic impact that counterfeit goods have 
on the national and local economies, on U.S. jobs and on American 
ingenuity. Chairman Longoria's recognized the role that ports play in 
helping to limit counterfeit goods from entering the U.S. marketplace.
   Chairman Longoria's Texas ties run deep and so does her Longhorn 
price. An honors graduate of the University of Texas for both her 
undergraduate and law degrees, she is also a former Vice Chairman of 
the University of Texas System Board of Regents and a Founder of both 
the Center for Women in Law and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for the 
Study of Latin American Law at the University of Texas School of Law. 
She is also on the Board of Directors of the University of Texas Law 
School Foundation.
   In the Houston area, Chairman Longoria's contributions exceed far 
beyond the Port. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the 
Texas Medical Center, MD Anderson Visitors Center, the Greater Houston 
Partnership, Center Point Energy, and the Galveston Bay Area 
Foundation. Her service to many great

[[Page 5483]]

causes throughout the state earned her the Sandra Day O'Connor Award 
for Board Excellence in 2008.
   Needless to say, her resume is impressive and her commitment to 
public service is admirable. I appreciate her dedication to the State 
of Texas and to the City of Houston and look forward to working with 
her to raise awareness of the importance of the Port of Houston to the 
entire nation. And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________