Whereas, on June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to establish a 41,000-mile National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, known as the Interstate Highway System;

Whereas, in 2025, this web of superhighways, now spanning a total of 46,876 miles throughout the United States, has had a powerful and positive impact on our national life;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has proven vital in transporting people and goods from one region to another speedily and safely;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has brought communities throughout the United States closer together and kept us connected to one another, as well as the larger world;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System remains one of our country’s paramount assets as well as a symbol of human ingenuity and freedom;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System is vital to our national security by ensuring quick transportation for our military, equipment, and critical resources;

Whereas the Interstate Highway System has facilitated trade both within our national borders and globally, and helped create unprecedented economic expansion and opportunities for millions of Americans;

Whereas many areas in Appalachia, including in southern Ohio, have faced economic hardships over recent decades, an interstate could increase economic opportunities for Appalachian communities;

Whereas the development of an interstate through southern Ohio could go directly past the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio;

Whereas the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and personnel were an integral part of the United States nuclear deterrent during the Cold War;

Whereas the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant is now being redeveloped, restored, and reopened for businesses, some of which have already started production at the site;

Whereas an American company has started enriching uranium on site, which allows for the United States to become more energy independent and strengthens national security;

Whereas a leading defense technology company is building an advanced manufacturing facility south of Columbus, Ohio, as well;

Whereas these sites, and the entire southern Ohio region, could greatly benefit from an interstate going south from Columbus, Ohio; and

Whereas Ohio legislators have already supported a resolution to study a future interstate through the region to improve connectivity, safety, and economic growth in the State: Now, therefore, be it