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Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District encompasses over 20,000 square miles of some of the most beautiful forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, trails and wetlands in the United States. The District includes 29 counties and over 150 communities in southern and western Arkansas, making up about 40 percent of the state’s total land area and sharing a border with four other states: Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Fourth District most embraces the state’s nickname: The Natural State. For decades, hunters, fishermen and outdoorsmen from across the country have been attracted to the region’s diverse geography making tourism an important industry. The area is also home to the oldest federal reserve in the United States, Hot Springs National Park, where 47 natural springs produce water that flows out of the ground at a
temperature of about 146 degrees Fahrenheit and where tourists still flock to today to enjoy its historic spas and bathhouses. Hot Springs is also home to the Magic Springs & Crystal Falls theme park and Oaklawn Park, a thoroughbred racetrack and gaming center in operation since 1904.
 Agriculture is a key component of the District’s economy and an important way of life for many of its residents with rice, soybeans, poultry, and cotton being among its top exports. The top industrial outputs include food processing, machinery, paper products and oil refining. Arkansas is also currently the only U.S. state where diamonds are mined. Located near Murfreesboro in southwestern Arkansas, tourists today continue to visit the area and “dig for diamonds” in hopes of finding the precious gem.
Education is important to the region with 13 facilities of private and public, two- and four-year colleges and universities. The District also hosts the National Center for Toxicological Research located in Jefferson, which is a branch of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that conducts research on the toxicity of products regulated by the FDA, and the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, which develops scientific principles and technologies to enhance the profitability and sustainability of small scale farms.
In January 2007, El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corporation created the El Dorado Promise, a scholarship program that allows all El Dorado High School graduates who have been at the school since at least the ninth grade to attend any college of their choice in the nation.
Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District is also home to the Pine Bluff Arsenal, a U.S. Army installation located in Pine Bluff that is a world leader in the design, manufacture and refurbishment of s moke, riot control and incendiary munitions, as well as chemical/biological defense operations items. It is also the only place in the Northern Hemisphere were white phosphorus munitions are filled and provides key first-responder equipment training for chemical emergencies and warfare.
Today, numerous businesses and families call Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District home. The area’s beauty, bountiful natural resources, strong work ethic, friendly atmosphere and numerous family activities make it a terrific place to start a business and raise a family. It is a tremendous honor and privilege to represent Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District in the U.S. Congress.
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