U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) | Facebook
U.S. Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) | Facebook
In a June 1 meeting at the Port of Little Rock, Arkansas lawmakers including GOP Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, and state Rep. French Hill (R-Conway), met with officials from the Port, Rock Region METRO and other stakeholders.
The legislators wanted to know what government funds were spent on and how improvements could be made to create more business opportunities and improve infrastructure, trade and transportation in Arkansas.
“Yesterday Sen. Tom Cotton, Congressman French Hill and I had a great discussion about infrastructure, trade, jobs and the economy with Port of Little Rock officials, Rock Region METRO, Little Rock Regional Chamber and Clinton National Airport,” Boozman said in a Facebook post dated June 2. “The LR port is a critical hub that connects Arkansas industry with the region, nation and world, and we need targeted, smart investment to sustain it — which is a bipartisan position. Glad we could get an update about what’s happening with the Port and also share some thoughts about the current state of the infrastructure package negotiations and what we’re hoping to see versus what can’t be included in order to reach a deal.”
It hasn’t been a good year for the oil and gas industry, the legislators said. President Joe Biden’s stopping the Keystone pipeline didn’t help either, Hill and Boozman said during the discussions.
They said the decision actually harmed a local business – the Welspun Pipeline Company cut their jobs in half, from 1000 to 500, after the pipeline project was shut down. But, Boozman said it also hasn’t stopped the oil from being produced. It’s just being transported in different ways.
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