IA 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. J. RES. 100
Recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the Ford Motor 
Company, which has been a significant part of the social, economic, 
and cultural heritage of the United States and many nations and a 
revolutionary industrial and global institution, and congratulating the 
Ford Motor Company for its achievements. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2004
Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following joint 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the 100th anniversary year of the founding of 
the Ford Motor Company, which has been a significant 
part of the social, economic, and cultural heritage of 
the United States and many nations and a revolutionary 
industrial and global institution, and congratulating the 
Ford Motor Company for its achievements.
Whereas on June 16, 1903, then 39 year old Henry Ford and 
11 associates, armed with little cash, some tools, a few 
blueprints, and unbounded faith, submitted incorporation 
papers to Michigan’s capital, Lansing, launching the 
Ford Motor Company;
•HJ 100 IH 
Whereas the Ford Motor Company began operations in a 
leased, small converted wagon factory on a spur of the 
Michigan Central Railroad in Detroit; 
Whereas the first commercial automobile to emerge from the 
Ford Motor Company in 1903 was the original 8-horse-
power, 2-cylinder Model A vehicle with a 2-speed trans-
mission, 28 inch wheels with wooden spokes, and 3 inch 
tires; 
Whereas between 1903 and 1908, Henry Ford and his engi-
neers went through 19 letters of the alphabet, creating 
Models A through S, with some of these cars being exper-
imental models only and not available to the public; 
Whereas on October 1, 1908, the Ford Motor Company intro-
duced its ‘‘universal car’’, the Model T (sometimes affec-
tionately called the ‘‘Tin Lizzie’’), which could be recon-
figured by buyers to move cattle, haul freight, herd 
horses, and even mow lawns, and Ford produced 10,660 
Model T vehicles its first year, an industry record; 
Whereas the Ford Motor Company inaugurated the first 
automotive integrated assembly line in 1913, changing 
the old manner of building one car at a time through 
moving the work to the worker by having parts, compo-
nents, and assemblers stationed at different intervals, 
and beginning a new era of industrial progress and 
growth; 
Whereas Henry Ford surprised the world in 1914 by setting 
Ford’s minimum wage at $5.00 per an 8-hour day, which 
replaced the prior $2.34 wage for a 9-hour day and was 
a truly great social revolution for its time; 
Whereas that same year, 1914, Henry Ford, with an eye to 
simplicity, efficiency, and affordability, ordered that the
•HJ 100 IH 
Model T use black paint exclusively because it dried fast-
er than other colors, which meant more cars could be 
built daily at a lower cost, and Ford said the vehicle will 
be offered in ‘‘any color so long as it is black’’; 
Whereas in 1925, the company built the first of 199 Ford 
Tri-Motor airplanes, nicknamed the ‘‘Tin Goose’’ and the 
‘‘Model T of the Air’’; 
Whereas Ford’s self-contained Rouge Manufacturing Complex 
on the Rouge River encompassed diverse industries and 
suppliers that by 1927 allowed for the complete produc-
tion of vehicles, from raw materials processing to final 
assembly, was an icon of the 20th century, and, with its 
current revitalization and redevelopment, will remain an 
icon in the 21st century; 
Whereas consumer demand for more luxury and power 
pushed aside the then current model, and on March 9, 
1932, a Ford vehicle with the pioneering Ford V–8 en-
gine block rolled off the production line; 
Whereas while Ford offered only two brands through 1937 
(Ford and Lincoln), due to increased competition, the 
first Mercury was introduced in 1938, a car with a dis-
tinctive streamlined body style, a V–8 engine with more 
horsepower than a Ford, and hydraulic brakes, thus fill-
ing the void between the low-priced Ford and the high 
priced Lincoln brands; 
Whereas one of the largest labor unions in the Nation was 
formed as the United Automobile Workers (UAW) in 
1935, and after a rather tumultuous beginning, won ac-
ceptance by the auto industry and became a potent and 
forceful leader for auto workers, with Ford building a