1-1 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 43 1-2 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas takes pride in 1-3 recognizing The Dow Chemical Company for its role in the magnesium 1-4 industry and for its Freeport magnesium plant, which has been 1-5 in operation for 58 years; and 1-6 WHEREAS, Construction began on the Freeport magnesium 1-7 plant in 1940, and in response to the expansion of our country's 1-8 armed forces and the need for lighter weight aircraft during 1-9 World War II, the plant was built rapidly; the first magnesium 1-10 ingot was poured on January 21, 1941; and 1-11 WHEREAS, The first operations were at the Plant A 1-12 facility, which is still in operation today; the Plant B facility 1-13 was built by Dow for the federal government and was completed 1-14 in 1942; and 1-15 WHEREAS, Over the years, the Freeport plant employed 1-16 tens of thousands of local citizens and produced a quantity of 1-17 magnesium that made enough aluminum cans for every Houston citizen 1-18 to have 60 12-ounce cans of soft drinks a day; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Dow uses seawater as the raw material source 1-20 for its magnesium and treats it with a form of alkalinity to 1-21 create an insoluble precipitant of magnesium hydroxide; a 1-22 less-than-anhydrous magnesium chloride is then generated and is 1-23 used to feed the extensively developed Dow Magnesium Cell; the fact 1-24 that this cell is capable of handling the less-than-anhydrous feed 2-1 is unique in the industry; and 2-2 WHEREAS, Dow produces a variety of cast magnesium 2-3 products, including high purity alloys used in the die casting 2-4 industry and pure magnesium that is used in metal reduction, steel 2-5 desulfurization, and aluminum alloying; and 2-6 WHEREAS, The executives and staff of The Dow Chemical Company 2-7 consistently strive for excellence in all areas of operation, and 2-8 they deserve to be proud of the company's superior achievements 2-9 in the magnesium business; now, therefore, be it 2-10 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-11 76th Legislature, hereby commend The Dow Chemical Company on 2-12 its many contributions to the magnesium industry and extend 2-13 congratulations on the Freeport magnesium plant's 58-year 2-14 history; and, be it further 2-15 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 2-16 The Dow Chemical Company as an expression of esteem from the 2-17 Texas Senate. 2-18 Brown 2-19 ______________________________________ 2-20 President of the Senate 2-21 I hereby certify that the above 2-22 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 2-23 on January 20, 1999. 2-24 ______________________________________ 2-25 Secretary of the Senate 2-26 ______________________________________ 2-27 Member, Texas Senate