August 30, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 140 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE CITY OF 
                               SAN MATEO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 30, 2019

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the City of San Mateo upon 
the occasion of the 125th anniversary of its incorporation. An election 
was held on September 1, 1894 and voters overwhelmingly supported 
becoming a city. With 125 votes supporting incorporation to 25 opposed, 
the election was certified on September 3rd and the first council--
known as a Board of Trustees--was convened the following day.
  One hundred twenty-five years later, San Mateo has about 110,000 
residents and a place in our global economy. Every time you use Survey 
Monkey, you are relying upon a business in San Mateo. At one point in 
recent years, first Solar City and then Tesla were either founded or 
had major facilities in this community. GoPro is next door. These 
offices were originally occupied by Visa International, since relocated 
in a nearby community. If you have a Franklin Templeton fund in your 
401(k), it was created and managed by the diligent financial experts at 
their headquarters in San Mateo.
  I love San Mateo because on its broad, leafy, streets you can find 
people and hear languages from around the globe. One third of the 
city's population was born outside the United States. About 94 percent 
of all households have a computer. About 90 percent have a broadband 
internet connection, and 51 percent of all residents have a bachelor's 
degree or higher. Gone are the days when horses galloped around the Bay 
Meadows race track. That area is now the site of high technology. Women 
and men are making modern bets in this part of the city, but this time 
on the emerging global economy rather than on successors to 
Secretariat.
  The history of San Mateo did not begin with the arrival of Spanish 
explorer Gaspar de Portola in the 1700's. The Ohlone Native Americans 
lived in the area and the available evidence indicates that they 
largely lived in harmony with the land and water around them. There is 
also evidence of healthy trade between villages that were once on the 
San Mateo Coast and the edge of San Francisco Bay, including in San 
Mateo. The forested land and grasslands of the foothills were seen by 
the Spanish as a rich opportunity. First Spain, and then Mexico, 
granted extensive land holdings to early settlers. Farming and ranching 
were the norm.
  However, the admittance of California as a state in 1850 was soon 
followed by the arrival of extensive development. The railroad sparked 
the land rush, starting in 1863. Suddenly, what had been a weekend 
retreat for a handful became a suburban home for wealthy refugees from 
San Francisco. By the turn of the century, the early founder of Bank of 
America--A.P. Giannini--was making daily commutes from his San Mateo 
home to his bank in San Francisco.
  San Mateo is enormously patriotic. During the darkest days of the 
Vietnam War, and alone amongst cities in the Bay Area, the residents of 
San Mateo adopted a unit of the 101st Airborne, 1st Brigade, 327th 
Infantry Regiment Company A, and they have provided continuous support 
to the company ever since. Last year during the weekend of March 24th 
and 25th, the city celebrated yet another weekend in which the troops 
were hosted and they paraded through downtown.
  From its founding as a village in 1894 to its emergence as a 21st 
century powerhouse, residents of San Mateo have led spirited civic 
lives. Elections are rarely without significant discourse. Initiatives 
are sometimes sparked. Many, many smart and engaged people participate. 
Democracy is the better for it.
  San Mateo is a microcosm of the best of our nation. Rare is a day 
when a hawk does not soar overhead or a child exclaim in joy in Central 
Park. At the county hospital, a physician will save a life or counsel 
the despondent not to give up hope. Up the hill, students attend to 
their coursework at the College of San Mateo.
  Residents know that the best pie on the planet is to be had at Heidi 
Pies. If the otters at CuriOdyssey science museum don't bring a smile 
to your face and joy to your heart, you have no soul. One hundred 
twenty-five years after the city's founding, the kite surfers off the 
city's levee have it right. Go with the wind and find your way across 
the choppy waves. Excitement is in San Mateo, California, along with 
joy, genius, generosity, and tremendous pride in the United States of 
America.

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