Recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles.

I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me and commend her for her leadership on this legislation, along with Mr. Rohrabacher. In 2 months in Congress, you have hit the ground running, and we're all very proud to serve as your colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution congratulating the Port of Los Angeles on its 100th anniversary.

When I first came to Congress in 1992, the Port of L.A. looked far different than it does today. It wasn't quite the sleepy port of 100 years ago, with mule-driven trains and wooden ships. It was a regional presence. But today it is the largest container port in the United States and part of the fifth busiest container complex in the world. It supports over 250,000 jobs at the port and adjacent communities and nearly 1 million jobs worldwide. It is an economic powerhouse whose importance to Southern California and the Nation cannot be overstated.

In recent years, the port has taken great strides to address the challenges that come with being a major port in the 21st century. It has dedicated millions to ensuring the quality of life for the surrounding communities, many of which are located in my congressional district. It has also taken on groundbreaking environmental initiatives to reduce the air pollution that it generates. Maybe most importantly, 100 years ago there was no such thing as a maritime security strategy. Today, the issue is of paramount importance, and the port has been a national leader.

In the hours after the September 11 attacks, port officials, the Coast Guard, and local law enforcement executed a pre-approved plan that quickly and efficiently secured the port. The planning, communication and execution we saw that day became the inspiration for many of the security initiatives that have come since, including the SAFE Port Act, which I coauthored with my California colleague, Dan Lungren, and which became law last year.

As I mentioned, Congresswoman Richardson deserves enormous appraise for her leadership on an issue that was very timely but which the rest of us had overlooked. I don't think this resolution would have come to the floor without her initiative. And it really is a big deal to the San Pedro community.

I look forward to working with her as her partner when we celebrate the next 100 years. We may be feeble, but we will be here.

And at this time, I would like to insert into the Record an article from today's edition of the Daily Breeze.

[From the Daily Breeze, Dec. 5, 2007]

Port of Los Angeles Marks 100 Years Since Its Creation

(By Art Marroquin)

San Pedro Bay had been struggling as a port for nearly a

half-century, but the mud flats surrounding the inland harbor

failed to excite railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington.

So rather than run his Southern Pacific Railroad down to

San Pedro, Huntington bought more than 200 acres in Santa

Monica in the hope of bolstering his vision for a ``Port Los

Angeles.''

He built a wharf that extended 4,720 feet into the Pacific

Ocean, attracting more than 300 cargo ships during its first

year in 1893.

``He wanted people to think his port was close to Los

Angeles, when in fact it wasn't,'' said Ernest Marquez of

West Hills, who chronicled Huntington's efforts in his 1975

book ``Port Los Angeles: A Phenomenon of the Railroad Era.''

``If he was successful, then the region's economy would

have been at the mercy of Southern Pacific and that would

have been disastrous,'' Marquez said.

While Huntington tried to get his Santa Monica port

recognized as the official harbor for the Los Angeles region,

efforts were already under way to bulk up the port in San

Pedro.

U.S. Sen. Stephen M. White, the Los Angeles Chamber of

Commerce and Los Angeles Times Publisher Harrison Gray Otis

believed the port should be a city-operated enterprise and

pushed efforts to build a ``Port of Los Angeles'' in San

Pedro Bay.

``Those men saw potential for the mud flats in San Pedro,''

Marquez said. ``They believed the harbor could be developed

by lots of digging and dredging.''

To a lesser extent, interests in Redondo Beach and Playa

del Rey had tried to enter the fray, but those efforts

quickly fell by the wayside, setting the scene for an epic

battle that became known as the ``Free Harbor Contest.''

Congress established the River and Harbor Act of 1896,

which created a commission to decide whether federal funds

should go to Santa Monica or San Pedro.

Three years later, Congress put its money on San Pedro and

breakwater construction began a short time afterward.

``There was no way a harbor of this magnitude could have

been developed in Santa Monica because there are too many

cliffs on the beach, and it was wide open to the ocean,''

Marquez said. ``San Pedro was favored because the harbor went

inland and protected ships from the open seas.''

The city of Los Angeles then annexed a 16-mile strip of

land to connect to the port in 1906. The communities of San

Pedro and Wilmington were annexed three years later.

The city's newfound ownership of the port gave rise to a

new harbor commission, a three-member panel appointed in 1907

by then-Mayor A.C. Harper.

The 100th anniversary of the harbor commission's creation

will be marked during a celebration at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The bash will include historical displays, refreshments,

boat shows and a performance by Taiwan's Evergreen Symphony

Orchestra. A fireworks display is set for 7 p.m.

The first commissioners--George H. Stewart, Frederick

William Braun and T.E. Gibbon--regularly met in downtown Los

Angeles and made ``big news'' during the rare occasions they

traveled about 20 miles south to San Pedro, according to

Geraldine Knatz, executive director for the Port of Los

Angeles.

The panel didn't have a budget and its members often had to

pay for expenses out of their own pockets, she said.

``When the voters approved the annexation and bond

improvements for port improvements, the money went to the

Board of Public Works, not the harbor commissioners,'' Knatz

said. ``It got so bad that all the commissioners resigned in

disgust by 1913.''

The first harbor commission faced many of the struggles

that persist today, such as building new infrastructure and

bolstering regional economic development, Knatz said.

``When you read through the meeting minutes from 100 years

ago, you learn that nothing really changes,'' Knatz said.

``There will never be enough money, you'll be lobbied by

different interest groups, and you'll always have to deal

with residents who live near the port. It's always going to

be hard.''

The port has come a long way since those early years, with

the arrival of cargo container ships in 1937, the advent of

towering gantry cranes during the late 1960s and, more

recently, an environmental push aimed at reducing diesel

emissions from ships and trucks.

About 15.8 million cargo units passed through the ports of

Los Angeles and Long Beach last year, accounting for more

than 40 percent of the nation's imports. That number is

expected to double by 2020 and nearly triple by 2030,

according to local economist John Husing.

Additionally, some 500,000 people in Southern California

are employed directly and indirectly by port-related

businesses, Husing said last month.

``The port is a vital part of our national economy, but it

is just as important locally, providing good jobs for

generations of local residents,'' said Los Angeles City

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose 15th District includes the

port.

To remain competitive, the port must continue to grow while

also keeping the environment in mind, Husing said.

Several shipping companies operating at the Port of Los

Angeles are studying expansion options that call for

environmentally friendly accommodations, such as AMP

technology that allows container ships to ``plug in'' to a

generator and operate on electrical power while docked,

rather than idling on their diesel engines.

China Shipping was the first company to use the technology

at the Port of Los Angeles, resulting in the elimination of

300 tons of pollution-forming nitrogen oxides since 2004,

according to port officials.

``Growing green is imperative if any kind of expansion is

going to happen,'' Knatz said. ``It's always difficult to be

out front on these issues, but we can't afford to be a

follower.''

Indeed, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach approved a

clean air plan in 2006 aimed at reducing emissions by 50

percent over the next five years.

The ports are poised in 2008 to roll out the plan's first

provisions, including a so-called Clean Trucks Program that

calls for replacing or retrofitting about 16,000 diesel-

spewing big rigs with cleaner-burning vehicles by 2012.

``The time has come for us to truly commit to cleaning up

our air and limiting emissions from the port,'' Hahn said.

``It is my hope that working together, we can finally have

both a productive and efficient port, but also clean and

healthy communities.''

Madam Speaker, next week, on December 9, as we have mentioned today, the Port of Los Angeles, which I am proud to say is located in my district, will celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

Yes, the Port of Los Angeles has had a long and distinguished history. It was the location of one of the first railroads in Southern California. We are also proud of the crucial role played by the Port of Los Angeles in the battle for the Pacific during the Second World War.

Throughout its history, the Port of Los Angeles has been a harbinger of prosperity and economic growth, as well as an impetus for the engineering and technology development that we have noted. In August of 1958, for example, a cargo vessel named the Hawaiian Merchant delivered its first shipment of 20 cargo containers to the Port of Los Angeles, ushering in a cargo container revolution that has had an enormous impact on the world economy.

Let us note on this 100th anniversary that there was someone who played an important role in providing the infrastructure to the ports and to the transportation systems that serve the ports. Let us pay homage to Congressman Glen Anderson, who helped provide, with his influence in this House as chairman of the Transportation Committee, such support that gave us the infrastructure we needed to have the great port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

When I first was a Member elected here, Glen Anderson was still serving here, and I was proud to call him my friend. He has left us a legacy that he can be proud of.

We've come a long way in these last 50 years, with the help of people like Glen Anderson. Those initial 20 cargo containers have grown to over 8.5 million cargo containers just last year. And as we noted, the combination of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach represent the fifth largest port complex in the world. More than 43 percent of all goods arriving in the United States enter through this port complex. And I guarantee you that in every congressional district represented in this Congress, there is something there that has been brought through the international gateway, which is the Port of Los Angeles.

There is a challenge in this new century, several challenges, however. Madam Speaker, our greatest challenge is to improve the way that containers are moved through the port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Over 70 percent of the containers now arriving in our ports are headed inland from Southern California to destinations and localities within the United States. Every day, thousands of these containers are hauled by truck from the port to inland rail depots. This results in unsafe road conditions, traffic jams, dangerous health conditions, pollution, and our freeways and our roadways are unacceptably crowded. And yes, that is unacceptable now. As container traffic grows, the situation will get worse unless we act.

If we continue with the current method of transporting those containers individually by truck system, the whole system will collapse as it pollutes and clogs Southern California's roads and freeways. That said, however, there is a new solution on the way, a new clean and efficient way of moving containers through the ports through inland railroad depot, a way that will revolutionize the process. This new approach has bipartisan support. That bipartisan support ranges from myself and Governor Schwarzenegger to my Democratic colleagues, Representatives Richardson and Oberstar.

The cutting-edge technology to which I refer is an electronic cargo conveyor system. Instead of being loaded onto trucks to sit in traffic, containers will be quickly sent to an interior rail depot utilizing clean electric mag-levlike technology, an electronic conveyor belt system of sorts. With container traffic being removed from our roads and our freeways, traffic and health conditions will dramatically improve. We will be able to quickly and cleanly move the cargo out of our ports and to consumer outlets throughout the United States. And the best part, Madam Speaker, is that it will cost less to build and run a new system like I have just described than to continue to pay to have containers shipped individually by truck.

The ports in Southern California will continue to prosper and lead the way as long as it is willing to innovate with the type of creativity reflected in the mag-lev system that I just discussed. I congratulate the Port of Los Angeles and its board of directors on their anniversary and the tremendous success of the last 100 years.

We have other issues as well, and let me just note one other issue as we know, and Ms. Harman has played a major role in trying to develop the security that we need at our ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. There are security needs and other infrastructure needs that will cost money. Whenever you have any benefit, it will cost. We need to face the cost of these improvements with the same creativity that I just discussed technologically that we need to do in the cargo movement.

The way that I would suggest, and I hope that on this anniversary that we note that, yes, Glen Anderson played an important role in getting Federal money for the ports. That is not an unending source of revenue. But if we were to charge a container fee and base our improvements in the ports, instead of on the taxpayers of the United States channeling money to our ports, that we instead charge those using the ports a reasonable container fee so that those who have set up manufacturing facilities in China and elsewhere will pay to utilize the ports, that container fee will not only be fair, but it will be

something that will provide us a new source of revenue in order to provide the security and infrastructure needs of the future.

So these two combination things, the new mag-lev technology conveyor belt system I described, and a new container fee which is basically a user fee for those using the ports, will be the type of innovation that will ensure that the Ports of Los Angeles, and yes, the port complex in Long Beach, has a great second 100 years, and that, again, this port complex will provide us with an example of innovation and forward thinking and economic prosperity that will serve all of the people of the United States.

Again, I congratulate the Port of Los Angeles on their 100th anniversary.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 822) recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on House Resolution 822.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I'm proud to honor the Port of Los Angeles today with the passage of House Resolution 822, which recognizes the port's 100th anniversary. I was pleased to undertake this effort with my colleague from the Republican side of the aisle, Representative Dana Rohrabacher.

The Port of Los Angeles enjoys a meaningful history, Madam Speaker, starting in the mid-19th century as a trading center for furs and hides serviced by stagecoaches and wagons and transforming over time into a distinction today as the Nation's largest container port.

In 1911, Rear Admiral John C. Walker helped push for greater development in the San Pedro Bay, and his efforts resulted in the first Federal breakwater.

In World War II, the Port of Los Angeles played a large role in our Nation's ability to respond to the shipbuilding challenge and to arm the U.S. Navy. This effort also quickly became a part of the Port of Los Angeles' prime economic activity.

More recently, in 2004 the port completed the 500-acre Pier 400 container complex as the largest single user container terminal in the world, which has been acclaimed as an engineering marvel.

The Port of Los Angeles is located in the San Pedro Bay in California and is a part of the Southern California port complex. In California, both ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach, process approximately 85 percent of the State's goods movement program. For the Nation, the Southern California complex additionally handles more than 45 percent of the entire Nation's cargo arriving in the United States, impacting over 1 million jobs nationwide. As a premier international gateway, the Port of Los Angeles has been recorded as the number one largest container handling port in the United States for the last 7 consecutive years.

My colleagues, the impact of the Port of Los Angeles is monumental, and the numbers are staggering. The port has grown 246 percent over the last 11 years, tripling its trade-related jobs, generating $256 billion in commerce, and producing $28 billion in tax revenue. This growth is not likely to slow, as the port is expected to again triple the amount of cargo it handles by the year 2030.

With this progress comes great responsibility, however. In 2006, the historic Clean Air Action Plan was agreed to by the Boards of Harbor Commissioners, which seeks to reduce air pollution by 50 percent in the next 5 years.

With House Resolution 822, the House now has an opportunity to bestow the appropriate recognition on the Port of Los Angeles that it deserves after 100 years of successful operation and service to the American public and our economy.

I urge my colleagues to support House Resolution 822.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize for 3 minutes a strong ally of the Port of Los Angeles and my friend from Los Angeles County, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Harman).

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize for 2 minutes my good friend and representative who covers the Port of San Diego, our sister port, the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Los Angeles and a fellow member of the Transportation Committee, the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2-1/12 minutes to my dear friend also from the Los Angeles County area, the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Roybal-Allard.

Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize the next three speakers that you will hear for 2 minutes, but in particular I want to yield 2 minutes to my dear friend from Oakland, who represents another sister city port, the Port of Oakland, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my sister colleague and dear friend who also represents the Port of San Diego, Congresswoman Susan Davis.

Madam Speaker, I wish to yield 2 minutes to my dear friend and sister from the great area of Santa Barbara. She also has a port in her district, Mrs. Lois Capps.

Madam Speaker, actually as the manager of this bill, I was prepared to give the honor of closing this bill to the dear chairman. So since he is our last speaker, I am prepared to close at that point once you have yielded the remaining time.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to introduce the distinguished chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, on which we both serve. His leadership I have had an opportunity to work with in a very quick fashion, and I am very pleased to have him join us in this effort. Please welcome the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).

I yield myself the balance of my time.

The Port of Los Angeles now looks forward to its next 100 years with a legacy as a leader in terminal efficiency and setting environmental standards. It is indeed the Nation's largest and most successful conveyor of the Nation's and the world's commerce.

Madam Speaker, I urge all the Members to support the Port of Los Angeles and House Resolution 822 and applaud the efforts of Mr. LaTourette, our chairman, as you heard, Mr. Cummings, and also our chairman of Transportation, Mr. Oberstar.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to adopt House Resolution 822 and to recognize the 100th anniversary of the

Port of Los Angeles. I want to thank you, Mr. LaTourette, for yielding time, and you, Ms. Richardson, for your very, very fine work which I will get back to in a moment.

During its first century, the Port of Los Angeles has grown to become a massive freight processing complex encompassing 27 cargo terminals which handle more than 43 percent of all the goods arriving in the United States. By any metric, the size of operations at the Port of Los Angeles is simply staggering. Over just the past 11 years, as part of the San Pedro Bay Port Complex, the port has grown 246 percent, generating $256 billion in commerce and $28 billion in tax revenue. That is simply astounding.

Already the largest container terminal in the United States, the port handled more than 8.5 million 20-foot container units last year alone. By 2030, the port complex is expected to triple its cargo handling activities again.

Not surprisingly, the port is an industry leader in all aspects of transportation. In 2002, the port was a principal partner of the $2.5 billion Alameda Corridor project, which connected the port to America's transcontinental rail system with a 20-mile rail expressway. Created through a partnership with local, regional and statewide agencies, this project epitomizes the multi-modal connections that are essential to speeding and easing freight movements through our Nation's ports.

The port has also undertaken a dedicated effort to address the impacts of its operations on the local environment through the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, which is intended to reduce air pollution from port activities by nearly 50 percent in 5 years.

The action plan is the world's first program proposed to significantly reduce health risks around a major port by combating regional air pollution from port-related operations.

I also want to take a moment to salute Ms. Richardson. She has, without a doubt, I think it was Ms. Lee that said that she came in and hit the ground running. I say she hit the ground flying, including her work just recently with me. When we visited San Francisco, she was the only other subcommittee member who attended the special field hearing convened by our subcommittee to examine the terrible oil spill in San Francisco Bay. Ms. Richardson ably represents California's 37th Congressional District, including the interests of the Port of Los Angeles as evidenced through her work on the resolution before us today. I shall never forget in her opening statement on the floor in the well of this House, one of the things that she mentioned, Madam Speaker, was that she wanted to make sure that the port and the port's interests in her district were well situated and that they were made better by her presence in this great House. And so I want to applaud her for her efforts.

I want to thank her for her insight, and I am so, so excited that she is part of the subcommittee which I chair. And with that, Madam Speaker, I thank her and I thank my ranking member on our subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, House Resolution 822 recognizes the 100th anniversary of the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States in terms of maritime cargo volume and, when combined with the adjoining Port of Long Beach, is the fifth busiest commercial seaport worldwide.

This trade is a critical component to our national economy, and directly and indirectly supports millions of jobs nationwide. The port has also taken action to lessen impacts on the surrounding areas and the environment by recently implementing a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions from ships and port operations.

I join the resolution's sponsors, Congresswoman Richardson of California and Congressman Rohrabacher of California, and all of the cosponsors in recognizing the Port of Los Angeles' first 100 years and wishing the port continued success in the future.

I urge all Members to support the resolution. And I want to congratulate one of our newest Members in the House, Congresswoman Richardson, on guiding this legislation to the floor in such a quick manner.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, at this time it is my pleasure to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Madam Speaker, it's my pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to another gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren).

Madam Speaker, may I inquire of the Chair the time remaining on each side.

Madam Speaker, I am going to continue to reserve. But I do see the distinguished chairman of our subcommittee on the floor, and if 2\1/2\ minutes isn't enough time for his observations, I would be happy to inquire to see if the gentlewoman needs time.

Would you like me to yield to the chairman?

I would yield 2 minutes of our time and ask unanimous consent that it be added to the gentlewoman's time so they have 4\1/2\ minutes.

I yield back the remainder of my time.

Madam Speaker, House Resolution 822 recognizes the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States in terms of maritime cargo volume and, when combined with the adjoining Port of Long Beach, is the fifth busiest commercial seaport worldwide. This trade is a critical component to our national economy and directly and indirectly supports millions of jobs nationwide.

The port has also taken action to lessen impacts on the surrounding areas and the environment by recently implementing a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions from ships and port operations.

I join the resolution's sponsor, Congresswoman Richardson of California, and all of the cosponsors in recognizing the Port of Los Angeles' first 100 years and in wishing the port continued success in the future. I urge all Members to support the resolution.