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Rep. Rahall: House Democrats to vote for transportation bill
The leading House Democrat involved in negotiations about a new $105 billion transportation spending bill said Friday that members of his party would vote to approve the measure.
Democrats in the House have been opposed to the stance taken by Republican leaders in their chamber during contentious negotiations with the Senate. Most House Democratic members of the conference committee that negotiated an agreement between the chamber refused to sign a report from the panel on the agreement.
But Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) told reporters that his party's objections to the first multiyear transportation bill to be considered by Congress since 2005 had been resolved.
Rahall said Democratic concerns about provisions in the highway bill that weaken environmental reviews of transportation projects and allow states to opt out of spending money on bikes and pedestrian programs were not as severe as his party's fears about the original House proposal tying transportation funding to increase domestic oil drilling.
"A lot of the proposals in H.R. 7 have been beaten back in conference," he said.
He added that Democrats in the House would be able to get over their complaints about being left out of negotiations with the Senate.
"The process is what it is," Rahall said. "If each of us had our own way, we'd have 435 different bills that are perfect in individual ways."
Rahall said he expected the transportation bill to pass easily during a vote that is expected around 1:15 p.m.
