Cargo Business Newswire

Friday, May 25, 2012

Top Story

Congress strives to bring in highway bill by June

Senator Barbara Boxer said Wednesday that the closed-door Senate-House committee is coming close to finalizing a transportation bill, although the Keystone pipeline issue is still a sticking point. The committee started with the Senate’s 2-year $106 billion transportation infrastructure bill, which passed the Senate but not the House.

The GOP tried to include in the bill a provision for fast-tracking the Keystone oil pipeline, which the White House has shelved until the requisite environmental review is completed.

Boxer said after speaking with Speaker of the House John Boehner Tuesday, she was optimistic about making a deal by the June deadline. She said she would produce a bill that will go through, without a presidential veto.

Boehner stated that Keystone remains a priority, but Boxer stated a symbolic vote held in the House on Friday revealed that House Republicans did not have the two-thirds vote they would need to overrule a presidential veto on the pipeline.

For more of the Chicago Tribune story: www.chicagotribune.com