{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-calls-on-house-colleagues-to-pass-long-term-extension-of-highway", "Kuster Calls on House Colleagues to Pass Long-Term Extension of Highway Bill During Visit to Route 4 Bridge Construction Project in West Lebanon", "2015-07-06", "2015", "2015-07", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Ann Kuster", "K000382", "kuster.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "West Lebanon, NH This morning, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) visited the Route 4 Bridge construction site in order to highlight the importance of immediately passing a long-term surface transportation bill in Congress. Across New Hampshire and around the country, local projects like the Route 4 Bridge construction could be threatened if Congress fails to pass legislation to preserve federal transportation funding.\nIn 2012, Congress passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) Act to fund our countrys surface transportation network for two years, and it has since been extended one year beyond its original 2014 expiration. MAP-21 is set to expire at the end of July, which means funding for the federal Highway Trust Fund and projects around the country could run out of money right in the middle of summer, our countrys busiest construction season. During Mondays tour, Kuster  along with state and city officials, business leaders, and project planners  called on her colleagues in Congress to immediately pass long-term legislation to prevent this funding shortfall, which not only threatens local construction projects, but also vital summer construction jobs that New Hampshire workers rely on.\nThroughout New Hampshire, construction workers are hard at work fixing our roads and bridges, and making improvements to our transportation infrastructure in order to improve safety and efficiency. We must ensure these projects can continue throughout the busy summer construction months and the rest of the year, said Congresswoman Annie Kuster. We cannot put the safety of our drivers, or the livelihoods of our workers, in jeopardy because of partisan politics. I call on my colleagues to immediately bring a long-term bill to the floor, so we can ensure the funding for these projects does not run out.\nThe Route 4 Bridge project was first started in 2013. After completion, the new steel beam bridge will improve access between West Lebanon and Hartford, VT, and it will eliminate congestion and detours that have delayed traffic for years throughout the area. During the tour, project officials gave an update on the status of the Route 4 bridge project, and Kuster outlined her own efforts in Washington to encourage passage of a long-term bill.\nCongresswoman Kuster has long advocated for increased federal investment in New Hampshires transportation infrastructure. She has proposed legislative solutions for increasing cost-savings at the federal level in order to replenish the Trust Fund in years past and she has toured the I-93 construction projectin Windham, theRoute 10 bridge replacement projectin Winchester, and the Broad Street Parkway project in Nashua to highlight the urgent need to pass responsible, long-term funding legislation to support these projects. Earlier this month, Kuster sent a letterto House Leadership urging them to bring a long-term surface transportation bill to the floor for immediate passage.\n\n\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://kuster.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/kuster-calls-on-house-colleagues-to-pass-long-term-extension-of-highway"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0350539814680815, "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"}