Recognizing the importance of the Interstate Highway System and supporting the development of an interstate through southern Ohio.

Recognizing the importance of the Interstate Highway System and supporting the development of an interstate through southern Ohio.

Whereas, on June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to establish a 41,000-mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, known as the Interstate Highway System;

Whereas, in 2025, this web of superhighways, now spanning a total of 46,876 miles throughout the United States, has had a powerful and positive impact on our national life;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has proven vital in transporting people and goods from one region to another speedily and safely;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has brought communities throughout the United States closer together and kept us connected to one another, as well as the larger world;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System remains one of our country’s paramount assets as well as a symbol of human ingenuity and freedom;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System is vital to our national security by ensuring quick transportation for our military, equipment, and critical resources;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has facilitated trade both within our national borders and globally, and helped create unprecedented economic expansion and opportunities for millions of Americans;

Whereas many areas in Appalachia, including in southern Ohio, have faced economic hardships over recent decades, an interstate could increase economic opportunities for Appalachian communities;

Whereas the development of an interstate through southern Ohio could go directly past the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio;

Whereas the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and personnel were an integral part of the United States nuclear deterrent during the Cold War;

Whereas the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant is now being redeveloped, restored, and reopened for businesses, some of which have already started production at the site;

Whereas an American company has started enriching uranium on site, which allows for the United States to become more energy independent and strengthens national security;

Whereas a leading defense technology company is building an advanced manufacturing facility south of Columbus, Ohio, as well;

Whereas these sites, and the entire southern Ohio region, could greatly benefit from an interstate going south from Columbus, Ohio; and

Whereas Ohio legislators have already supported a resolution to study a future interstate through the region to improve connectivity, safety, and economic growth in the State: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) recognizes the importance of the Interstate Highway System;

(2) recognizes the economic boost and increased national security that an interstate could provide to a region; and

(3) supports the planning, designing, and development of an interstate in southern Ohio going south from Columbus, Ohio.