{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=115c80c7-f1aa-407d-8391-0c459aa74111", "Alexander: Five-Year Highway Bill Provides Stability and Certainty, and Will Help Grow Jobs in Tennessee", "2015-12-03", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "TN", "Lamar Alexander", "A000360", "www.alexander.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2015 U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said today final passage of a five-year plan to reauthorize federal highway programs, which he voted for, is good for Tennessee and will lead to more good-paying jobs in our state and across the nation.\r\nThis bill is good for Tennessee, because we have seen over the last 30 years how good roads have helped to spread auto suppliers and good jobs across the state. This is the longest federal highway bill in 17 years, which provides stability and certainty  and is a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars, Alexander said. My preference for funding transportation bills is for highway users to pay for improvements to the highways, which is the course I hope Congress will take on future bills.\r\nThe Fixing Americas Surface Transportation Act, also known as the FAST Act, reauthorizes funding for federal transportation programs for five years which allows states to plan for more construction projects. The bill, which is fully paid for, provides federal funding for roads, bridges, and transit programs that are critically important to Tennessees economy. The bill also gives state transportation agencies more flexibility and streamlines the process to approve projects, which means projects can get done faster and cheaper. The bill also creates a new National Highway Freight Program to maintain heavily trafficked corridors, including several in Tennessee.\r\nThe Senate passed the bill today by a vote of 83-16. The House also passed the bill by a vote of 359-65 today.\r\n# # #\r\nFor access to this release and the senators other statements, click here.\r\nTo stay up-to-date on the senators latest actions, follow him on Twitter and YouTube.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=115c80c7-f1aa-407d-8391-0c459aa74111"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3542631641030312, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}