"In fact, construction and completion of I-49 will create roughly 65,000 new jobs in Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District. 

"There are a number of other transportation projects that need funding in our district. These projects include the four-laning of  U.S. Highway 167 from Little Rock to El Dorado, and ensuring the completion of I-69, the Great River Bridge and I-530, which will run right through the heart of Southeast Arkansas.

"In order to ensure the crucial success of all these transportation projects, we must get a funding plan in place that allows us to fully develop and construct these highways. 

"This week we learned that the federal government posted the largest deficit in our country’s history - $374.2 billion. We have seen a $5 trillion projected surplus over 10 years become a $5 trillion projected deficit. Yet with the economic woes we are facing here at home, the Bush Administration wants to spend $20 billion to rebuild Iraq!

"This is unacceptable. We have three million new people out of work.  We have 43.6 million Americans without health insurance.  We have the largest unemployment in Arkansas in a decade. Our cities and small towns in Arkansas are hurting, just like the rest of the nation.

"It is time to restore fiscal responsibility to our government. We need to fund projects in our own country, not Iraq. It is time for us to invest in America’s infrastructure -- like these transportation projects -- which will create thousands of new jobs.  Without them, our economy will continue to suffer."

Photo: Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark) participates in a meeting with other Members of the bipartisan Congressional I-49 Caucus. Ross and Caucus members  are working together to secure funding for the completion of the I-49 corridor.

“My fellow members of the I-49 Caucus and I are spending the next two days visiting cities along the corridor to highlight the need to complete I-49,” said Ross. “The completion of this project is vital to our economic future. Once completed, I-49 will provide a direct route between Winnipeg, Canada, and New Orleans, Louisiana. This project will significantly reduce traffic congestion, open trade routes, and create jobs. The sooner we complete I-49, the sooner we can reap the benefits of the increased commerce and tourism that will come with it.”

Ross, who serves as Co-Chair of the Caucus, and other Caucus Members, kicked off the tour Thursday morning in Kansas City, Mo., where they met with local business and community leaders. Following Kansas City, the delegation will travel to Joplin, Mo., and Fort Smith, Ark., on Thursday. On Friday the Members will travel to Doddridge, Ark., and Lafayette, La., before completing the tour that afternoon in New Orleans, La.

The Congressional I-49 Caucus is a bipartisan, multi-state coalition of members of the U.S. House of Representatives formed with the principle objective of securing federal funding for the completion I-49 from Kansas City, MO to New Orleans, LA. The I-49 Congressional Caucus consists of 14 Members of Congress from 4 states, and is the first of its kind to join Members of different political parties and states for a sole purpose - the completion of Interstate 49.

 “I am proud to work with my fellow Members of the I-49 Caucus, in a bipartisan manner, to generate economic opportunities for our respective states,” said Ross.

Over the next six years, the savings generated by a completed I-49 corridor will far outpace the remaining costs of construction, which are currently estimated at $4.6 billion.  Additionally, construction and completion of I-49 will support the creation of nearly 194,000 jobs along the route. Roughly 65,000 of those jobs generated will be created in Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District.