House appropriators OK Transportation spending bill

House appropriators quickly approved a $55 billion transportation spending bill Tuesday that provides across-the-board increases for most agencies under the legislation.

The bill, which was approved on a voice vote after a brief markup session, provides $15.8 billion in discretionary funds-an increase of $1.4 billion over last year and just $400 million less than the president's request.

Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf, R-Va., highlighted the bill's 15 percent increase for the Coast Guard, as well as the legislation's call to fully fund highway and aviation accounts, as prescribed by the recent TEA-21 and AIR-21 reauthorization bills.

Wolf also said the bill provides a 156 percent increase for the Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which helps protect against highway truck accidents.

Democrats also praised the bill, though Subcommittee Ranking Member Martin Sabo, D-Minn., warned that funding for discretionary transit programs was not sustainable over the long-term thanks to the pressures put on the committee by new mandatory spending, such as those in the highway and air accounts. He said if Appropriations Committee Chairman C. W. Bill Young, R-Fla., had not been so generous in allocating funds to the subcommittee, some big federal entities, like the Coast Guard, would have suffered for lack of funds.

Few amendments were offered at full committee. What could be a big fight over bill language to prohibit the Clinton administration from revising current Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) was put off until floor action. Environmentalists are pushing for stricter standards, especially in the light of increased use of high-polluting sport utility vehicles, but the automobile industry says an increase in fuel economy rules could lead to a market loss for some U.S.-made vehicles. The industry would rather revise the CAFE standards voluntarily.

There was some minor controversy over one amendment offered by Rep. Jesse Jackson, D-Ill., who proposed adding language that would urge the Federal Aviation Administration to "expeditiously conclude" negotiations with Illinois officials regarding aviation forecasts for a proposed third Chicago-area airport. Jackson's amendment would also call on the FAA to "initiate promptly" an environmental impact assessment for the third airport to be located in south-suburban area of Peotone.

But Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., objected to the language, fearing that Indiana-and in particular, his home district of Gary-would be left out of talks with the FAA about the creation of a third airport for the Chicago metro region.

Visclosky offered a substitute amendment to Jackson's text, ensuring that Indiana has a seat at the negotiating table.

Jackson said he wasn't necessarily opposed to the language, but since he had worked out an agreement with Wolf and Sabo, he said he was inclined to oppose it until assessing its ramifications. The Visclosky substitute then failed by show of hands, and the panel adopted the Jackson amendment by voice vote.

Other amendments approved by voice vote include ones by:

• Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., to add two airports to the list of airports eligible for airport improvement grants.
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., to expedite the redesign of New Jersey-New York metropolitan air space.
• Rep. F. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., report language on wetlands in Florida.

Among the bill's funding highlights, compared to fiscal 2000 levels:

• $30.7 billion for highway programs, an increase of $1.89 billion.
• $6.3 billion for Federal Transit Administration, an increase of $486 million.
• $12 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration, $2.5 billion over fiscal 2000. Airport improvement money is at $3.2 billion, an increase of 1.25 billion.
• $4.6 billion for the Coast Guard, an increase of $594 million more than fiscal 2000. It includes $565 million for drug interdiction activities, some $44 million more.
• $689 million for the Federal Railroad Administration, about $40 million less than the previous year but $366 million shy of the president's request. While the committee chose not to fund the administration's intercity passenger service fund, it did provide the full $520 million request for Amtrak.
• $269 million for the Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a $164 million increase over fiscal 2000.

The legislation also prohibits funds for the continuation of the Third Harbor Tunnel project in Boston, Mass., the so-called Big Dig that has been plagued by cost-overruns and mismanagement, according to the committee.