Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize the critical role of structural steel in our Nation's infrastructure and industrial economy. Today, September 24, 2010, is the second annual SteelDay and is being celebrated through events nationwide. These events highlight the many American jobs provided by the structural steel industry and the contributions of structural steel as a safe, strong, green, and effective building material. The structural steel industry is a major employer in Illinois. Today, the United States has 4 major structural steel mills, 10 hollow structural shape producers, and more than 2,600 steel fabricators. Together, they employ over 185,000 Americans, producing 4.5 million tons of fabricated structural steel in 2009. In Illinois, more than 100 structural steel firms provide more than 2,000 good jobs. Most of the structured steel in a building can be recovered and recycled--as much as 98 percent. In fact, columns and beams that are made at U.S. steel mills include an average 93 percent of recycled materials. It is the most recycled material on the planet. There is a renewed interest in this country in domestic steel as a building material, and structural steel accounts for 5 percent of the steel consumed in the United States. Shipping steel from other countries creates a huge and unnecessary carbon footprint.”