Senator Warner and Senator Chafee, I want to express my sincere thanks to both for joining us. I welcome you to Kansas City, Missouri, the home of more fountains than any city except Rome and more boulevards than any city except Paris, and I sincerely appreciate your wanting us to hold the hearing today because one thing I am confident in saying about all our guests today is that we share the belief that transportation funding and sound transportation policy is critical for Missouri and for the entire country.
Transportation links our communities, towns and cities with markets.
It links my constituents with their schools, hospitals, churches and jobs. An effective transportation system can and will move us into the 21st century. My distinguished colleagues, you have heard me mention more than once, that the State of Missouri has been a leader in transportation. In 1808, Kings Highway from St. Louis to southeast, Missouri, became the first legally-designated road west of the Mississippi River. In 1929, Missouri was the first State to protect and earmark funds for highway purposes.