BILL YEAR
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution commending the Canaveral Port Authority on
3	the 50th anniversary of Port Canaveral.
4
5	WHEREAS, a small commercial fishing and oil port, with
6	its Port Authority offices located in downtown Cocoa and
7	staffed by only one person, Barbara E. Smith, Port Canaveral
8	was dedicated on November 4, 1953, at a ceremony presided over
9	by former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
10	Colonel Noah Butt and Florida's United States Senator Spessard
11	B. Holland and in 50 short years has grown into one of the
12	busiest cruise ports in the world, second only to Miami, and
13	WHEREAS, in April 1965, the Canaveral Lock was dedicated,
14	allowing further growth of Port Canaveral and Brevard County
15	and offering recreational ocean access for area residents; and
16	the 400-foot cargo piers were completed on the north side of
17	the port in the summer of 1976, thus enabling further economic
18	expansion and business opportunities for the county and
19	Central Florida, and
20	WHEREAS, in February 1982, the conversion of the 20,000-
21	square-foot warehouse into Cruise Terminal 1 on the north side
22	of the port was complete and, the first cruise ship to
23	homeport at Port Canaveral, the "S/S Scandinavian Sea" began
24	1-day cruises, followed in March 1984 by Premier Cruise Lines'
25	"S/S Royale," which began the first year-round 3-day and 4-day
26	cruises from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas, and
27	WHEREAS, in June 1989, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) 136 was
28	activated with Astrotech, Inc., the first zone customer and
29	operator, making Port Canaveral, offering transportation via
30	air, land, space, and sea, the world's first quadramodal port,
31	and
32	WHEREAS, today, Port Canaveral continues to flourish and
33	to maintain and strengthen its position as a world-class
34	seaport and vacation destination, offering more recreational
35	opportunities than all of Florida's other deepwater seaports
36	combined and contributing over 30,000 jobs and more than $504
37	million in wages and having an economic impact of more than
38	$808 million to the Central Florida region, NOW, THEREFORE,
39
40	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
41	Florida:
42
43	That the House of Representatives commends the Port
44	Canaveral Port Authority for its half-century of farsighted
45	leadership which has resulted in its becoming a major economic
46	engine in Brevard County and Central Florida, recognizes the
47	longevity and success of Port Canaveral, and wishes the port
48	many more years of prosperity and growth.
49	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
50	presented to the Canaveral Port Authority as a tangible token
51	of the sentiments expressed herein.