According to a report by The Hill, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) revealed this plan Tuesday morning, while stressing that he seeks a long-term bill that’s fully paid for. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. A statement from communications director Conn Carroll said Lee had personally apologized to McConnell. But how the issue will get resolved before then is unclear.
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Meanwhile, at least seven states have halted highway construction because they can not count on the federal government to provide its share of funding for more than a few months at a time. The money gap threatens to force the closure of hospitals and clinics nationwide. Congress must also decide whether to approve or disapprove President Barack Obama’s Iran deal, and whether to pass a contentious defense policy bill that faces a veto threat from the White House.
But now, Lee intends to continue the fight another day.
Cruz was right to fight the GOP leadership’s move to breathe new life into the Bank almost a month after its charter expired, but his guns-a-blazin’ actions left him in the wilderness.
The Senate’s acceptance of the House’s three-month highway funding proposal sets up a punt on infrastructure funding that will extend debate about paying for the nation’s road and transit projects into October. Senate passage is likely Thursday.
It’s also a blow to backers of the Ex-Im Bank, who had hoped the 81-year-old institution would be revived by catching a ride on the back of the Senate transportation bill. Ex-Im Bank supports roughly 164,000 American jobs across the United States and is an important tool in enabling U.S. exporters to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
The bank remains a rather esoteric agency that is responsible for issuing loans to foreign entities who are purchasing American-made goods, like airplanes and tractors.
Complicating matters, Congress is entering its final days of legislative work before its annual August vacation, raising the prospect of unpredictable last-minute maneuvers to resolve the disputes on the highway bill and the Export-Import Bank. Not only did Cruz’s Senate colleagues say he’s not being accurate, but they scolded him for attacking a fellow senator–let alone a fellow Republican–like that. But after a tea party-infused GOP majority retook the House in 2010, conservatives began seizing on the bank as crony capitalism and a federal agency ripe for elimination, making a 2012 reauthorization vote a struggle for the first time.
“The fall certainly won’t be for the faint-hearted”, said Sen. “You can’t get at every little piece, but the big parts are tax and spend”.
It has been a decade since Congress last passed a 6-year transportation bill even though lawmakers in both parties generally support highway and transit aid. The difficulty has been finding the money to pay for programs in a way that doesn’t increase the federal deficit.
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At the same time that revenues and purchasing power are declining from the federal gasoline tax, congestion is increasing and states are failing to spend enough to refurbish crumbling roads and bridges. Revenue from the tax, which has remained at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993, has fallen billions short of meeting the highway funds’ needs for a decade.
