I was truly honored to meet with these soldiers, and was inspired by their brave spirit. I felt it was important to thank these courageous men and women -- in person -- for their dedicated service to our country. I also wanted to show them how committed I am to making sure they have the resources they need to get their job done quickly and safely, so they may return home to their families as soon as possible. 

I was also heartened by a recurring theme I heard from the soldiers throughout the day, and that is how committed and ready they are to serve our country. I’m happy to report these soldiers are undergoing the best training in the world, and I have all the utmost confidence they will serve our country extraordinarily well. 

This week in Washington, I also met with the Arkansas National Guard’s General Don Morrow, who briefed me on issues concerning Arkansas’s guardsmen. General Morrow assured me the 39th Brigade has received the best training possible. We also discussed the need to extend TriCare, which currently provides health insurance to active duty and retired uniformed service members and their families, to all military reserve soldiers. 

Extending TriCare to reserve soldiers is simply the right thing to do. They are risking their lives to protect our freedoms, and we should provide these soldiers and their families the same health insurance benefits that active duty soldiers receive.  I anticipate that I will offer legislation in Congress in the next several months that will address this issue.

I hope you will join me in keeping these soldiers in your thoughts and prayers in the days and months ahead.

Photo:  Rep. Mike Ross meets with soldier Curtis Haynes of Hope, a member of Arkansas’s 39th Brigade Monday in Ft. Polk.  Haynes is training at Ft. Polk, and is awaiting deployment to Iraq.

Currently the US Corps of Engineers maintains four Lock and Dams on the waterway and maintains a navigation channel to a nine foot depth and one-hundred foot width from the Red River in Louisiana north to Camden, Arkansas. 

Due to severe funding shortages in the President’s budget the Corps, which budgeted over $10 million this year to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Ouachita/Black system, has only allocated $1.974 million for the rivers next year. That reduction, a cut of over 80%, essentially ‘mothballs’ the river system, leaving inadequate funds for the Corps to operate or maintain the locks and dams that allow navigation. 

“We’re looking at everything we can do to try and increase the level of funding for the Ouachita/Black,” said Congressman Rodney Alexander (D-La) who represents the 5th District of Louisiana; an area that would be hard hit by the decision to mothball the river. “This is not just about keeping a river open; it’s about JOBS for our entire region! We’re going to take our case all the way to the top to make sure that northeast Louisiana and southern Arkansas can continue to reap the benefits of the Ouachita and Black rivers.” 

Congressman Mike Ross (D-Ark) who represents the 4th District of Arkansas agrees. “I believe there are misplaced priorities in the FY'05 budget. At a time when 9 million Americans are out of work, this budget proposes cutting 81% of the funding that allows the Ouachita/Black river to remain navigable thereby destroying hundreds of jobs in Arkansas and Louisiana that are dependent on waterway transportation. I will continue to fight to ensure that this funding is reinstated as we move through the budget and appropriations process.”

Representatives of the Ouachita River Valley Authority (ORVA) – a non-profit organization that has, in one form or another, engaged in the promotion of ‘economically sound, socially justified’ projects in the Ouachita Basin since 1892 – were in Washington this week to meet with members, like Ross and Alexander who are directly effected by the Corps decision, as well as House Appropriators from Louisiana and Arkansas like Congressmen David Vitter (R-La) and Marion Berry (D-Ark) who will be able to help fight for increased funding.

Without more funding the Ouachita/Black system will eventually become all but inoperable, directly effecting much of the regions industry, including agriculture, the paper & pulp industries,  oil and gas refineries, fuel & chemical distribution and power generation plants in Monroe, LA and El Dorado, AR. 
 

It’s hard to imagine that just 50 years ago, black and white children were not allowed to sit in the classroom together. They were not allowed to ride the same school bus, or drink from the same water fountain. But this change in law didn’t just happen by a sudden awakening of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices. It is due to the brave schoolchildren, parents, and teachers who took the initiative and confronted the insensible matter of segregation. 

In honor of this month, I would like to recognize a few of the outstanding African Americans whose roots spawned from Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District. The contributions each of these African Americans made to our country and its culture vary in scope. But the one thing they have in common is that because of their spirit and tenacity, our America is a little brighter, and a little better than it would have been without them.

El Dorado native Lou Brock is considered to be one of the greatest base stealers of his era. After three seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Brock joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 and fueled their World Series title. Brock has been a Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1985. 

One of the original creators of the Ragtime music genre, Scott Joplin was born in Texarkana. Billed as the King of Ragtime, his musical accomplishments created a solid foundation for the future of Ragtime music. 

One of South Arkansas’s most influential role models for entrepreneurship during the post-Reconstruction era was the successful businessman Wiley Jones. Originally a barber, Mr. Jones eventually acquired a string of small businesses, became the proprietor of a racetrack, and eventually owned the city of Pine Bluff’s streetcar system. 

Arkansas City native John H. Johnson founded and published the Negro Digest in 1942. He eventually launched Ebony and Jet Magazines, two of the most successfully selling publications in the country. Johnson is now the publisher, chairman, and Chief Executive Office of Johnson Publishing Company.

And last but not least, poet, actress, civil-rights activist, and best-selling author Maya Angelou hails from Stamps. One of our country’s most treasured legends, Angelou was a National Book Award nominee for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

There is no question our nation has progressed enormously since the groundbreaking Supreme Court decision 50 years ago. As we continue to go about our daily lives, we must remain cognizant of the fact, and to remind our fellow citizens, that all men are created equal -- the very principle our country was founded on.