[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13932]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE ANNIVERSARY

  Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, today, July 31, 2014, marks the 225th 
anniversary of the signing by President George Washington of 
legislation establishing the U.S. Customs Service, the oldest legacy 
agency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, currently within the 
Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Customs Service was created 
by the 5th Act of the 1st Congress.
  The U.S. Customs Service placed controls on imports and exports and 
on shipping and trade, which were deemed essential by the founders of 
the Republic, and would have been impossible without implementation by 
an honest, resourceful, and efficient Customs Service. The original 
Customs collectors, the Customs houses, and today's CBP officers have 
stood for 225 years as the embodiment of Federal authority at our ports 
of entry.
  After 225 years, the ever more complex demands of our economy and our 
society require CBP officers to remain alert and ready to perform on 
short notice a widening variety of tasks. Today's dedicated CBP 
personnel, and their predecessor Customs inspectors, have been the 
first line of defense against the entry into the United States of 
terrorists, terrorist weapons, illicit drugs and other contraband 
goods, while protecting the economic well-being of the Nation, and 
supporting American jobs, by facilitating legitimate trade and travel, 
and protecting this country's intellectual property rights.

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