{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://visclosky.house.gov/press-release/visclosky-announces-federal-funds-local-airport-improvements", "Visclosky Announces Federal Funds for Local Airport Improvements", "2013-09-20", "2013", "2013-09", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Peter Visclosky", "V000108", "visclosky.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Merrillville, IN \u2013 Congressman Pete Visclosky announced today that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $472,819 to Michigan City Municipal/Phillips Field Airport and $410,700 to the Griffith-Merrillville Airport.\n\u201cInvestment in Northwest Indiana\u2019s regional transportation network creates jobs and enhances our position as an attractive place to work and live.\u201d Congressman Visclosky said. \u201cI appreciate the efforts at Michigan City/Phillips Field and Griffith-Merrillville Airports to secure this important funding.\u201d\nFunds allotted to the Michigan City Municipal/Phillips Field Airport will be used to replace approximately 1.5 miles of perimeter fencing, supplanting shorter fences with a ten-foot wildlife fence.\u00a0 This sort of barrier is recommended for airports in heavily forested areas, as it is designed to keep wildlife off of runways.\n\u201cI would like to thank our federal and state officials for assisting us in taking this next progressive step\u00a0in creating a safer environment for aircraft traffic here on our airfield,\u201d said Michigan City Airport Manager Jessica Ward.\nGriffith-Merrillville Airport\u2019s grant will be used to continue the ongoing effort to extend its parallel taxiway.\u00a0 This safety feature, once completed, will eliminate the need for aircraft to backtrack on the active runway.\n\u201cThis FAA Airport Improvement Program grant will help to greatly enhance the safety of operations at the Griffith-Merrillville Airport by allowing us to finalize the engineering and acquire the property we need to complete the west taxiway connection to our terminal area,\u201d said Griffith-Merrillville Airport Manager Craig Anderson.\nThe 2012 Indiana Airport\u2019s Economic Impact Study indicates that Griffith-Merrillville Airport and Michigan City Municipal/Phillips Field each have an estimated economic impact of over $50 million annually.", 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://visclosky.house.gov/press-release/visclosky-announces-federal-funds-local-airport-improvements"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.267475076019764, "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"}