{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398274", "U.S. House passes HR985, local manufacturers win big", "2016-11-16", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Kathy Castor", "C001066", "castor.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As lead cosponsor of the bipartisan Concrete Masonry Products, Research, Education and Promotion Act, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) hailed this week\u2019s 355-38 vote for passage of her bill by the U.S. House of Representatives as a big win for local manufacturers and jobs in Tampa Bay area, Florida and throughout the country. \r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      As lead cosponsor of the bipartisan Concrete Masonry Products, Research, Education and Promotion Act, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) hailed this week\u2019s 355-38 vote for passage of her bill by the U.S. House of Representatives as a big win for local manufacturers and jobs in Tampa Bay area, Florida and throughout the country. \r\n\u201cLocal manufacturers and many across Florida worked diligently with me to boost jobs in the concrete masonry industry through this legislation.\u00a0If signed into law, businesses will have the ability to pool resources for research and to develop safer, more durable and more efficient products which would be a boon for building construction,\u201d U.S. Rep. Castor said. \u201cThis bill supports an industry made up of primarily small, local businesses that create local jobs in the competitive construction market.\u201d\r\nU.S. Rep. Castor added:\u00a0 \u201cBuildings made of structurally-strong materials, such as concrete block, are vital to reduce the impacts of property insurance losses as the climate changes and Florida experiences more extreme weather events. Producers also will be able to develop durable, energy-efficient and affordable products that are better able to withstand volatile weather conditions in their particular regions, such as seismic events in the West or extreme weather in the Southeast. \r\n\u201cThis legislation is a win for jobs and our local manufacturers. Nationwide, construction workers average higher wages and this legislation will bolster Florida\u2019s construction employment made up of nearly half-million workers \u2013 which is already up by 6 percent over last year and outpacing the nation\u2019s 3\u00a0 percent increase. Our numerous small manufacturers across the state can now seek to develop more resilient and more energy efficient building materials, remain competitive and most importantly create local manufacturing and construction jobs.\u201d \r\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://castor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398274"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8815370965749025, "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"}