"President Obama presented a clear vision and plan of action last night to continue the hard work to create jobs, build communities, and improve lives within the nation. This is what we help do in the Delta region.

"We believe - as the President believes - that one of the best investments we can make is in our people, making sure our workforce has the skills they need to get a good-paying job and live a successful life. Hand-in-hand with this administration, we are working to meet this goal: investing in the Delta workforce through projects that support training, recruiting, and retaining Delta workers and provide skill digital literacy to young tech-savvy workers and students.

"These aren't pie-in-the-sky steps. These are common sense investments that help our people find good-paying jobs right now and right here in the Delta.

"And we're not stopping there. We're working to expand on investments that provide preschool education to our children and prepare kids for life-long skills development. We must continue to support our community college systems, like the Arkansas Delta Technology Education Consortium, which equip our workforce with skills that they can directly apply to jobs in our most needy industries.

"We are also proud to support the President's strong commitment to rebuilding and upgrading our nation's infrastructure - a key to helping Delta businesses compete at home and abroad. Together, the DRA and the Administration have helped improve transportation and public infrastructure build rail lines to which connect local industries and businesses to consumers and marketplaces across the country and the globe. We're building broadband networks that connect Delta people - with their vibrant culture, history, ideas and energy - to the rest of the world. And we are looking forward to bringing national models, such as Fix it First and Partnership to Rebuild America, to the Delta region and its people.

"Despite national challenges, President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to create jobs for American and Delta citizens last night. The DRA is proud to partner with the people of the Delta region and our nation’s leadership to move our region and our country forward."