{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.speaker.gov/video/these-things-are-making-difference", "These Things Are Making a Difference", "2016-12-29", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "WI", "Paul Ryan", "R000570", "www.speaker.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Good news tends to travel slow,\u00a0especially when it is coming out of Washington. But in\u00a0this new video, we\u2019ve looked back at\u00a0things you may not have heard about\u00a0this year. And\u2014more good news\u2014it\u2019ll take\u00a0less than two minutes\u00a0of your time.\n\tHere is how some of the work of the 114th Congress is already making a difference in people's lives.\n \nThanks to the\u00a0Clay Hunt SAV Act, there are now\u00a0more outreach services\u00a0available for veterans at risk of suicide.\u00a0\nAfter an overhaul of our education system,\u00a0states are now taking the lead\u00a0on plans to improve schools and close achievement gaps.\nFollowing an end to the 40-year ban on exporting crude oil,\u00a0\u201crecord U.S. shipments are heading overseas.\u201d\nA historic bill of rights for the survivors of sexual assault is now law.\u00a0Amanda Nguyen, a 24-year old rape survivor who advocated for the bill, says, \u201cThis [bill] becoming law means so much, not just for the 25 million estimated rape survivors across America, but to me personally.\u201d\n9/11 first responders are signing up for health benefits after the Zadroga Act was extended. The wife of a former FDNY first responder says, \u201cIt\u2019s a life-changer for me and our three children.\u201d\nA new law to help fight the opioid epidemic and support recovery is taking effect. A\u00a0father who lost his son to an overdose says,\u00a0\u201cI believe that will save lives, and it\u2019s critically important to me as a parent, because my son faced a number of obstacles in gaining access to good treatment.\u201d\nPatients across the country are celebrating a new law that will accelerate cures for rare and chronic illnesses. A paralegal in Denver suffering from lupus says, \u201cThis is exactly what we need to move forwards.\u00a0My dream is that we\u2019re the last generation who has to deal with this.\u201d\nExperts are calling it \u201ca new day for mental health\u201d after the recent passage of reforms that will put the focus on early intervention and treatment.\nAnd, just in time for the holidays, the president signed a new defense law \u201cgiving troops their largest pay raise since 2010.\u201d\n \nOf course,\u00a0there is much more to do\u00a0to\u00a0get our country back on the right track. In 2017, a unified Republican government will press ahead on a bold agenda to deliver results and relief for the American people.", 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://www.speaker.gov/video/these-things-are-making-difference"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9822160936892033, "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"}