Debate rages on Hill over size of highway bill

摘要

Key senators from the Com-mittee on Environment and Public Works last month agreed on a 6-year, $221 billion reautho-rization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which had been set to expire Oct. 1 before an 11th-hour reprieve. But the Senate remains far apart from the House, where leadership last month rallied support on Capitol Hill from industry leaders and big-city mayors seeking a bill closer to $375 billion. In late September, Congress voted to extend TEA-21 temporarily for 5 more months, until Feb. 29, 2004, to give itself more time hash out replacement legislation. Last month, Committee Chairman Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and ranking member Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) announced their proposed deal, along with the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and the senior Democrat on that panel, Harry Reid (D-Nev.).