[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 74 (Thursday, April 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2367-S2368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 195--RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
            MCCLELLAN-KERR ARKANSAS RIVER NAVIGATION SYSTEM

  Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Boozman, and Mr. Cotton) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Environment and Public Works:

                              S. Res. 195

       Whereas June 5, 2021, marks the 50th anniversary of the 
     McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (referred to 
     in this preamble as ``MKARNS'');
       Whereas, in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1946 (Public Law 
     79-525), Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers 
     (commonly referred to as the ``Corps'') to undertake 
     comprehensive improvements on the Arkansas and Verdigris 
     Rivers, which served as the foundation of the MKARNS;
       Whereas the MKARNS opened for full use in December 1970, 
     which, after over 20 years and $1,200,000,000, was the 
     largest civil works project undertaken by the Corps at the 
     time;
       Whereas President Richard M. Nixon officially dedicated the 
     MKARNS on June 5, 1971, at a ceremony at the Tulsa Port of 
     Catoosa, Oklahoma;
       Whereas the MKARNS is named for United States Senator John 
     L. McClellan of Arkansas and former Oklahoma Governor and 
     United States Senator Robert S. Kerr of Oklahoma, who 
     advocated for the creation of an expansive, inland waterway 
     system;
       Whereas the MKARNS is 445 river miles long, with 18 locks 
     and dams, spans from Catoosa, Oklahoma, to the Mississippi 
     River, and serves commerce from a 12-State region consisting 
     of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Montana, 
     Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, 
     and Idaho;
       Whereas the MKARNS provides year-round, accessible inland 
     waterway transportation to 5 public ports, 50 private port 
     terminals, and over 90 industries;
       Whereas, on an annual basis, the MKARNS provides for 
     $8,500,000,000 in sales impacts,

[[Page S2368]]

     $1,600,000,000 in transportation cost savings, and 
     $289,000,000 in business taxes;
       Whereas the MKARNS contributes to 56,000 full- and part-
     time jobs, and 20 percent of all jobs in the United States 
     are linked to waterborne commerce supported by the inland 
     waterway system;
       Whereas, on average, 11,000,000 tons of commodities with a 
     value upwards of $4,000,000,000 travels on the MKARNS 
     annually, with sand, gravel, rock, chemical fertilizer, iron, 
     and steel accounting for nearly 60 percent of all waterborne 
     commerce;
       Whereas there are 4 designated Foreign-Trade Zones along 
     the navigation system at the public ports at Catoosa, 
     Muskogee, Little Rock, and Pine Bluff;
       Whereas the MKARNS allows for the lowest-cost and most 
     environmentally friendly method of moving goods, with 1 barge 
     transporting the equivalent of 15 jumbo railcars and 60 large 
     semi-trailers;
       Whereas, in 2015, the Corps upgraded the classification of 
     the MKARNS from ``Connector'' to ``Corridor'' on the National 
     Marine Highway, designated the MKARNS as a high-use waterway 
     system, and labeled the MKARNS as Marine Highway 40;
       Whereas Congress authorized multiple uses for the MKARNS, 
     including navigation, flood control, hydropower, recreation, 
     water supply, and wildlife conservation;
       Whereas, through the end of 2020, Arkansas River Basin 
     projects, including the MKARNS, are estimated to have 
     cumulatively prevented nearly $16,000,000,000 in flood 
     damages in the Arkansas River Basin region;
       Whereas there are 15 hydropower plants on the MKARNS which 
     provide low-cost power to 7,000,000 people and produce 
     2,500,000 kilo-watt-hours per year;
       Whereas inland waterways provide many recreational 
     opportunities, such as fishing, boating, and hiking, and over 
     4,000 recreational vessels lock through the MKARNS and 
     5,400,000 people visit Corps-operated recreation areas along 
     the MKARNS annually;
       Whereas modernization of the MKARNS will empower future 
     economic development, promote freight mobility, expand 
     agricultural exports and oil and gas development, and relieve 
     congestion on our roads and bridges;
       Whereas the increased backlog in critical maintenance 
     causes the economic uncertainty of complete navigation 
     disruption on the MKARNS, which would cost beneficiaries up 
     to $2,000,000 per day;
       Whereas Congress authorized the MKARNS to be deepened to 12 
     feet in 2003, and approximately 90 percent of the MKARNS is 
     already 12-feet deep;
       Whereas the capacity of each barge could be increased by 
     200 tons for each additional foot of draft, increasing the 
     overall freight capacity of the MKARNS by 40 percent and 
     resulting in over $250,000,000 in increased business sales 
     annually; and
       Whereas Oklahoma, Arkansas, the surrounding region, and the 
     entire Nation have benefitted, and will continue to benefit, 
     greatly from the MKARNS: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) honors 2021 as the 50th anniversary of the McClellan-
     Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System;
       (2) recognizes that investments in inland waterway 
     navigation infrastructure are an investment in the long-term 
     strength and security of the United States economy; and
       (3) commits to completing the deepening of the McClellan-
     Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System from 9 feet to 12 feet.

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