Recognizing the 175th Anniversary of American President Lines

Floor Speech

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Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate American President Lines on its 175th Anniversary. Founded on April 18, 1848 as the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, the company began with three ships and ran the first shipping line between Panama and California. Authorized by Congress under the Mail Steamer Bill in 1847, Pacific Mail operated under a U.S. contract to carry mail from Panama City to the west coast.

In 1867, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's SS Colorado was the first steamship to start regular service across the Pacific sailing from San Francisco to Yokohama and Hong Kong. In the 1880's and 1890's Pacific Mail modernized its ships again replacing iron-hulled ships with steel and installing electric lighting on the SS Columbia, the first ship in the world to have electric power.

In 1921, the company renamed ships after presidents, with the first five named as the President Cleveland, President Lincoln, President Pierce, President Taft, and President Wilson. These ships were sold to Dollar Steamship Lines in 1925, where they continued in the TransPacific service and expanded the line with seven additional ships named after presidents Adams, Garfield, Harrison, Hayes, Monroe, Polk, and Van Buren.

Under new management in 1938, the name was changed to American President Lines with an eagle as a mascot. American President Lines played a critical role in World War II by managing ships for the newly created War Shipping Administration and transporting troops and materiel in support of the war effort. Through World War II, APL lost nine vessels due to enemy attack or stranding in war zones.

As the world's post-war economy grew, American President Lines provided around-the-world cargo and passenger services and was a leader in Transpacific transportation between the U.S. west coast and Asia. Ever since, American President Lines has led industry innovation by pioneering containerized transport, developing the concept of seamless integrated intermodal service, implementing stacked containers on rail cars to improve operations and efficiency, deploying the use of RFID tags to track shipments, and, as a partner with the United States government, supporting critical sealift capabilities and U.S. military operations and personnel around the world.

We are proud to have American President Lines headquartered in Virginia, and I want to again congratulate American President Lines, their employees, and the U.S. merchant mariners who crew the ships, on their 175 year heritage and remarkable legacy.

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