{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/photos-and-video-kaine-celebrates-introduction-of-bipartisan-bill-to-support-virginias-seafood-industry", "PHOTOS AND VIDEO: Kaine Celebrates Introduction of Bipartisan Bill to Support Virginia\u2019s Seafood Industry", "2023-12-04", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Tim Kaine", "K000384", "www.kaine.senate.gov", "kaine", "https://www.kaine.senate.gov/news", "scraper", "PHOTOS AND VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today in Lottsburg, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine celebrated the introduction of his Save Our Seafood (SOS) Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced alongside Senator Mark Warner that would help seafood processors hire the seasonal workers they need in a timely manner.\n\n\u201cThe seafood industry is not just important to our economy, but important to who we are as Virginians. We want to make sure we keep you around for a very long time,\u201d Kaine said to seafood industry leaders. \u201cIt would be a shame if we got choked up because we couldn\u2019t solve this labor issue. So let\u2019s stay at the table together \u2013 we will make this happen.\u201d\n\n\u201cVirginia\u2019s seafood businesses rely on seasonal workers to keep their operations up and running. However, even in the best of circumstances, seafood processors struggle to find enough workers to meet demand,\u201d said Sen. Warner. \u201cThis legislation would exempt seasonal, non-immigrant workers in the seafood processing industry from the limits on H-2B visas, allowing processors to fully staff their operations during harvest season, avoid the frustrating uncertainty of the H-2B lottery, and focus on growing their businesses.\u201d\n\nThe Virginia seafood industry contributes over $1 billion to the Commonwealth\u2019s economy each year, supports over 7,000 jobs for Virginians, and generates $26 million in state tax revenue. Many of Virginia\u2019s seafood processors rely on workers from the H-2B visa program to harvest and process Virginia crabs and oysters in season, but processors annually struggle to get enough workers during the season when they are needed most. The SOS Act would permanently exempt seasonal, non-immigrant workers who work in seafood processing from the cap on H-2B visas, ensuring that processors have the workforce they need, when they need them to meet the increased demand at the start of the harvesting season.\n\nKaine and Warner have long supported Virginia\u2019s seafood industry. Earlier this year, the senators met with former Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh to discuss workforce challenges for Virginia\u2019s seafood industry and urge DOL to consider reforms to the H-2B lottery to help seafood processors meet their seasonal labor needs. Kaine and Warner also successfully pushed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the release of additional H-2B visas to support Virginia\u2019s seafood industry.\n\nJoining Kaine and Warner in introducing the legislation are Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).\n\nFull text of the bill is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "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.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/photos-and-video-kaine-celebrates-introduction-of-bipartisan-bill-to-support-virginias-seafood-industry"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3663398567587137, "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"}