Transportation and Infrastructure

The boxes record information leading up to auto accidents and so far are not required in all cars.

New guidelines limiting the hours oil field truckers can drive will slow a booming industry, House members argue.  

The House will vote as early as Monday on legislation that would spare U.S. auto dealers from rules that require them to provide customers with detailed information on auto insurance rates.

The rule was required under a 1972 law, and put in place in a 1993 rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It requires the NHTSA to produce a booklet containing insurance information and make it available to auto deals for their customers around the country.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and three other House Democrats have put forward legislation that would require anyone seeking flight training in certain aircraft to be checked against the federal government's terrorist watchlist.

The Flight School Security Act would apply to people who want to be trained on aircraft with a takeoff weight of more than 12,500 pounds. That would exclude light aircraft that can seat roughly 10 to 20 passengers.

Two House Democrats from Michigan have proposed legislation that would prevent auto insurance companies from using credit scores as a factor in determining auto insurance rates, a change that would dramatically reduce these rates in their home state and around the country.

Reps. Hansen Clarke (D) and John Conyers Jr. (D) last week introduced the Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Auto Insurance Act, along with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). The bill would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that reports on consumer credit could not be used to set auto insurance rates.

The letter follows Chrysler saying one death occurred in a Jeep that could have been caused by a vibrating suspension.

The ceremony will follow a two-day bus trip through Ohio and Pennsylvania for Obama.

Soon after passing the highway-flood-student loan bill, the House and Senate approved H.R. 6064, which would extend highway funding and the low student interest rate for one week.

The extension is needed because it is expected to take several days to enroll the larger bill, and the highway and student loan authorizations expire this weekend. Enrollment is the process of preparing the bill for the president's signature, and it will likely take several days.

The massive package will likely be the last major piece of legislation passed by Congress until after the November elections.

The House approved a bill funding the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for 2013, the sixth of 12 spending bills the House is hoping to finish before the end of the fiscal year.

Members approved the bill, H.R. 5972, in a 261-163 vote. The bill, H.R. 5972, was supported by 76 Democrats, and 54 Republicans voted against it.