Recognizing Steel Day 2009

Floor Speech

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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