House Republicans Standing In The Way Of 3 Million Jobs [View all]

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Wednesday, June 13, 7:35 PM

Sen. Barbara Boxer used an earthmover as a backdrop Wednesday for what has become her weekly public push for a transportation bill, but she used a blunt instrument to deliver her message.

In a sharp turn of tone, Boxer and a half-dozen other Democratic senators — joined by construction and union leaders — described the Republicans who have objected to conference committee proposals as extremists who are holding the bill hostage for political gain, want to scuttle transportation funding and should hang their heads in shame.

“There is only one group standing in the way of the bill, only one group standing in the way of 3 million jobs,” Boxer said. “Those are the House Republicans. They are standing in the way of progress.”

Though the House is not in session this week, conference committee members have continued to swap proposals aimed at reaching agreement on the latest iteration of a $109 billion, two-year transportation bill passed by the Senate last year. Transportation funding is now operating under a temporary extension that expires June 30.

Boehner was not able to get the House to agree on its own bill, and he appears to have struggled in getting some of his members to support the conference committee proposals. He suggested last week that a six-month extension was under discussion.

“It’s not all Republicans,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at Boxer’s news conference. “We had great Republican support in the Senate. Nor is it all Republicans in the House. But there are 100 people — militants, radicals, extremists — who actually believe the federal government should not be involved in highways.”


read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/democrats-bring-out-heavy-machinery-to-blast-gop-on-transportation-bill/2012/06/13/gJQArIrzaV_print.html