House votes to pay to have bridge rebuilt
WASHINGTON -- The House voted Friday to direct $250 million to rebuild the Minnesota bridge that was destroyed in this week's deadly collapse. A similar bill stood ready in the Senate as Congress moved toward a monthlong break.
"All of us are struck, deeply within our souls" by the collapse, said Rep. Jim Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat who chairs the House Transportation Committee, before the House unanimously passed the legislation.
The committee's former chairman, Alaska Republican Don Young, noted that he had sought $375 billion in the last six-year transportation bill, but Congress had to settle for about $90 billion less than that because of opposition from the Bush administration
"I don't do this often when I say I told you so," said Young, suggesting that Congress pass a tax to help rebuild bridges so that people don't face a "potential death threat."
"Yes, fund this problem with a tax," he said. "May the sky not fall on me."
Other lawmakers also called for more funding for transportation.
The local congressman, Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, praised the bipartisan response, saying, "Even though we have strong differences of opinion, when tragedy strikes America, we have no Democrats, we have no Republicans."
Oberstar said that the Minnesota Department of Transportation was offered a new technology to inspect hairline cracks not visible to the human eye but declined to use it. The department did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment left Friday.
President Bush planned to visit the bridge site on Saturday, and the White House released a text of his weekly radio address in which he offers Minnesotans encouragement as well as federal money.
"This is a difficult time for the community in Minneapolis, but the people there are decent and resilient, and they will get through these painful hours," he said in the prepared remarks. "As they do, they know that all of America stands with them, and that we will do all we can to help them recover and rebuild."
The legislation would waive the $100 million federal limit per state for emergency relief funds, authorizing $250 million for rebuilding the bridge. The money itself still needs to be appropriated by Congress in future legislation.
Oberstar pushed the bill through his committee on Thursday. The state's other seven members all signed on as co-sponsors, and its two senators, Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, introduced companion legislation.
Earlier Friday, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters, "I think it's safe to say, given the president's remarks, that of course we are going to support the necessary funding."
The bill allows for some of the money to be used to reimburse Minnesota for additional public transportation costs incurred as a result of the bridge's collapse. On Thursday, federal officials announced that $5 million would be released to help with efforts such as rerouting traffic around the disaster site.
The Interstate 35W bridge plummeted more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River on Wednesday.