{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://butterfield.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/butterfield-and-lujan-highlight-fcc-decision-to-transmit-emergency", "Butterfield and Lujan Highlight FCC Decision to Transmit Emergency Alerts in Spanish", "2016-09-29", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "G. Butterfield", "B001251", "butterfield.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Representatives G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM) applauded today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision requiring that participating carriers transmit wireless emergency alerts in Spanish as well as English.\u201cWith extreme weather events due to climate change on the rise, it is paramount that all people in the United States have equal access to lifesaving emergency alerts,\u201d said Butterfield. \u201cI commend the FCC for making these lifesaving notifications more accessible to more people.\u201d\u201cThis is an important step, and critical not only for states like New Mexico with a large population of Spanish speakers, but for the whole country.\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cI am pleased by the FCC\u2019s actions today, and look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure that Emergency Alerts can reach Americans in dire situations, wherever they live, in whatever language they speak, and whatever the emergency.\u201dLast fall, Representatives Butterfield and Luj\u00e1n\u00a0led a letter\u00a0signed by all 13 Democrats on the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, calling for the FCC \u201cto make sure that emergency alerts are available to all Americans\u2014regardless of what language they speak.\u201dFor the first time, the FCC will now require the transmission of these lifesaving alerts in a language other than English.\u00a0 This change marks a huge victory both for public safety and for the 37 million Spanish speakers living in the United States, according to 2011 Census Bureau data.Nevertheless, more work remains to be done. The Commission in this order now asks important questions about expanding these emergency alerts to even more languages, something originally called for by the members in their November 2015 letter to the FCC.\n###", 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": ["http://butterfield.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/butterfield-and-lujan-highlight-fcc-decision-to-transmit-emergency"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6649021524935961, "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"}