Highway Bill Passes Senate, Faces Opposition From Bush
The Senate voted 76 to 21 yesterday to approve a $318 billion transportation bill, but the legislation faces White House opposition over its price tag, and it differs from a costlier bill pending in the House.</br></br>The six-year measure would fund highways, bridges, road improvements, mass transit and safety programs. It is the successor to a $218 billion transportation bill passed in 1998 that expired last year but has been extended through the end of this month.</br></br>The local transportation projects the bill would finance are politically popular with lawmakers and their constituents. But the cost cannot be covered completely by the federal Highway Trust Fund, which is supported by the gasoline tax. The price tag has alarmed fiscal conservatives at a time of rising budget deficits and calls from President Bush to rein in spending.</br></br>After losing an 86 to 11 vote that ended their filibuster of the bill early yesterday, GOP conservatives tangled with other Republicans who were willing to accept higher spending in return for the 1.6 million jobs they say the bill will create.</br></br>"Never get between a congressman and asphalt, because you will always get run over," said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who opposed the bill. "A bunch of us are about to be roadkill. . . . The bottom line is, we're spending a ton of money and we're not paying for it."