III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 195 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River 

Navigation System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2021 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. COTTON) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Environment and Public Works 

MAY 28 (legislative day, MAY 27), 2021 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the McClellan-Kerr 

Arkansas River Navigation System. 

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; 


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SRES 195 ATS 

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 parttime 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 


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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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors 2021 as the 50th anniversary of the 

3 McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System; 

4 (2) recognizes that investments in inland water5 way navigation infrastructure are an investment in 

6 the long-term strength and security of the United 

7 States economy; and 


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1 (3) commits to completing the deepening of the 

2 McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System 

3 from 9 feet to 12 feet. 

Æ 


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