[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 94 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S3930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE McCLELLAN-KERR ARKANSAS RIVER
NAVIGATION SYSTEM
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further
consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 195.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 195) recognizing the 50th anniversary
of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I know of no further debate on the
measure.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Hearing none, the question is on adoption of the resolution.
The resolution (S. Res. 195) was agreed to.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Inhofe
amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the preamble as amended be
agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and
laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2108) to the preamble was agreed to as follows:
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S3930, May 28, 2021, first column, the following
appears: The amendment (No. 2108) to the preamble was agreed to as
follows: AMENDMENT NO. 208
The online Record has been corrected to read: The amendment (No.
2108) to the preamble was agreed to as follows:
========================= END NOTE =========================
(Purpose: To amend the preamble)
In the preamble, strike the 18th whereas clause and insert
``Whereas modernization of the MKARNS will empower future
economic development, promote freight mobility, and expand
agricultural exports and the movement of iron and steel
products, while relieving congestion on our roads and
bridges;''.
The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
The resolution (S. Res. 195), with its preamble, as amended, was
agreed to as follows
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, $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, and expand
agricultural exports and the movement of iron and steel
products, while relieving 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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