"On Monday, I will participate in another road partnership by hosting a transportation summit with my neighbor to the south – newly elected Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander.    Before he was even sworn into office, Congressman Alexander and I pledged to work together to see that Highway 167 becomes a four-lane highway from Ruston to the Louisiana-Arkansas state line, where our districts meet.  In Arkansas, Highway 167 is already four-lane from El Dorado to the Arkansas-Louisiana line, and if Louisiana officials will expedite the four-laning of 167 from the Louisiana-Arkansas line to Ruston it will provide El Dorado with 4-lane access to an interstate, I-20 at Ruston.  On Monday, we will come together in Junction City with highway officials from our two states, as well as leaders from communities along Highway 167 to begin working on this important road improvement. 

"I believe these kinds of partnerships are essential in getting results.  What good does it do to improve roads in Arkansas if that improvement stops at the state line?  It’s the same with other road projects.  Congressmen from south Louisiana and northern Missouri are all working to see that the final sections of I-49 in Arkansas are complete, because they know the end result will benefit all of us.  It’s not about building 5 miles of road; it’s about closing the gaps in our infrastructure that are halting our economic potential.

"I am involved in coalitions like the I-49 Caucus, the I-69 Caucus, the Highway 167 transportation summit, and other coalitions to address the transportation needs in our very large district.  Reaching across party lines and working together is the best way to find common sense solutions to our problems and to get these roads built.   In doing so, we begin laying the groundwork for success." 


Photo:  Ross stands where the I-49 gap begins near Texarkana at the 2002 Transportation Summit.  During the summit, Ross brought Rep. James Oberstar, Ranking Member of the House Transportation Committee, to Arkansas to discuss I-49, I-69, the Southeast Arkansas Intermodal Facility, and other transportation projects in need of funding.

“I felt it was important to express my concerns to Secretary Thompson,” Ross said.  “Just last week, I met with healthcare providers in our district who turned out in droves to discuss the problems they are experiencing in providing for rural Arkansas’s health care needs.  As their Representative, it is my duty to object to the Administration’s budgetary recommendations and ensure that residents in our rural communities have proper access to affordable health care.”

The text of the letter is as follows:

Dear Secretary Thompson:

We are writing to urge your reconsideration of spending and policy proposals that would make it more difficult for Americans in rural areas to receive adequate health services.

As you know, Americans in rural communities face unique health care challenges. While 25 percent of Americans live in rural areas, only 9 percent of physicians practice in these communities.  Hospitals and clinics are few and far between.   Working people in rural areas are less likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance and more likely to live in poverty than their urban and suburban neighbors. 

Rural America is also home to a greater proportion of senior citizens than other parts of the country.  While we appreciate the President’s reference to modernizing Medicare in his State of the Union address, we have concerns about the effect of his proposal on rural America.  The President’s plan appears modeled on the existing Medicare + Choice program, which allows private managed-care companies to offer benefits packages through Medicare. 

In rural America, Medicare + Choice has left too many seniors behind.  Most private insurers have determined that providing a quality benefits package in sparsely populated areas is simply not profitable.  Many private insurers have pulled out of rural markets, and those that remain have reduced benefits - often by removing the prescription drug option that is the very reason Congress created the program.  In 2002, only 5 percent of 

Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas had a choice of Medicare HMO providers, and the vast majority had no private prescription-drug plans available at all.  Clearly, we cannot depend on the private sector alone to provide this important benefit to our rural seniors.

Nor can we expect the private sector to provide other vital medical services at their own expense.  Yet that is exactly what we are doing in rural communities under the Medicare program.  Because of inequities in the Medicare payment formula, reimbursements to rural hospitals and providers often do not cover the cost of the service.  We are disappointed that the President’s budget did not include resources to restore fairness to the system.  Without adequate payments, struggling rural health care facilities and providers will have no choice but to shut their doors, leaving their patients with little or no access to care.

Finally, we are concerned about the provision in the President’s budget request that would allow states to cut benefits for certain Medicaid populations.  Rural health care facilities that serve comparatively small populations are likely to be tempting targets for savings – despite the fact that rural communities are home to a disproportionate share of Americans living at or near the poverty line.  For many families in rural America, travel to a facility in another city or county is prohibitively expensive.  The choice is nearby care or no care at all.

Options like this are part of the vicious circle that is eroding the last vestiges of rural life in America.  Lack of services send rural families fleeing to cities while lack of population keeps new services out. 

At its founding, our great nation was primarily rural.  We were a society of farmers and small close-knit communities.  If we lose what is left of rural life in this country, we lose something of what it means to be an American. 

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Reps. Ron Kind, Mike Ross, Ed Case, Charlie Stenholm, Sam Farr, Marion Berry, Maurice Hinchey, John Murtha, John Tanner, Artur Davis, Rodney Alexander, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Max Sandlin, Brian Baird, Earl Pomeroy, Jim Turner, Lincoln Davis, Tim Holden, Mike Thompson, Michael Michaud, Brad Miller, Frank Balance, Darlene Hooley, Brad Carson, Tom Allen, Tammy Baldwin

“I am very humbled by this morning’s vote,” Ross said.  “I have worked hard on the Agriculture Committee, and it is truly an honor to be named a Ranking Member in my second term as a U.S. Representative.  But more importantly, a subcommittee leadership position is an incredible opportunity for farm families in our district.  Cattle, pork, poultry, and catfish producers are a big part of the Arkansas economy, and as Ranking Member of this subcommittee, I will be in a position to provide them with a strong voice at our Nation’s Capitol.”

The Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture has jurisdiction over livestock; poultry; meat; seafood and seafood products; inspection, marketing, and promotion of such commodities; aquaculture; animal welfare; grazing; fruits and vegetables; marketing and promotion orders. 

As a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Ross also serves on the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over program and markets related to cotton, cottonseed, wheat, feed grains, soybeans, oilseeds, rice, dry beans, peas, lentils; Commodity Credit Corporation; crop insurance; and commodity exchanges.

In addition, Ross was recently assigned to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on the House Committee on Financial Services.  He also serves on the House Democratic Policy and Steering Committee.