[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 132 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S9547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING STEEL DAY 2009

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the critical 
role of structural steel in our nation's infrastructure and industrial 
economy.
  On September 18, 2009, Steel Day will be celebrated through events 
hosted nationwide. These events recognize the many employment 
opportunities the structural steel industry has provided to American 
workers and the contribution structural steel has made to our 
construction industry as a safe, strong and effective building 
material.
  The structural steel industry is a major employer in Illinois and 
other States across the country. Today, the United States has three 
major steel mills and more than 2,600 steel fabricators, which together 
employ over 250,000 Americans.
  Roughly 98 percent of structured steel in a building can be recovered 
and recycled and 93 percent of all columns and beams produced at U.S. 
steel mills are composed of recycled materials. In fact, interest in 
domestic steel as a building material has been bolstered by its 
desirable status in LEED certification, a rating system developed by 
the US Green Building Council.
  Improvements in the technology used to create and erect steel 
projects have lowered construction costs and improved onsite safety, 
resulting in increased demand worldwide. In light of these economic, 
environmental, and safety factors, it is no surprise that there is 
currently a three-to-one preference for using structural steel in the 
construction of multistory residential and nonresidential buildings.
  I congratulate the structural steel industry on Steel Day. Steel has 
featured prominently in America's past and present and will undoubtedly 
play an important role in our Nation's future.

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