After more than 8 hours of debate, the Senate, on Thursday, passed the FY 2004 Transportation-Treasury Spending Bill by a margin of 91-3. A conference with the House will likely occur next week.

The $90 billion Transportation-Treasury spending bill would provide $59 billion for the Department of Transportation, including $33.8 billion for highways, $13.2 billion for aviation and $7.31 billion for transit.

There was some doubt as to whether a vote would occur on Thursday because Senate appropriators never agreed to a time limit on debate. Most surprising about the debate was that there were no transportation amendments introduced and there was scant discussion about transportation issues.

To the disappointment of Amtrak supporters, no amendments boosting funding for the railroad were introduced. Such an amendment would have prompted lengthy debate, making it difficult for the Senate to finish consideration of the bill in one day. The Senate bill provides Amtrak with $1.346 billion in funding. Amtrak originally requested $1.82 billion for the current fiscal year. The House bill provides Amtrak with $900 million for the current fiscal year, which is the number the Administration initially proposed. Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn continues to maintain that the railroad would shutdown if Amtrak only receieved $900 million. Amtrak funding will have to be addressed in conference.

The Senate spent most of the 8 hours debating contentious amendments which would eliminate funding to enforce a travel ban to Cuba, suspend a scheduled pay raise for lawmakers and allow certain government jobs to be privatized.

The Bush Administration, in its Statement of Administration policy, announced it supports the overall bill, but has some concerns about certain provisions. The White House opposes the level of highway funding in the bill, which is $4.5 billion more than the President had requested. The Administration feels the increased highway funding is a concern because "it would either break dramatically with the tradition of tying highway spending with Highway Trust Fund revenue, or lead to a gas tax increase, which the administration strongly opposes." Also, like the House bill, the Senate bill eases travels restrictions to Cuba, which the Administration vehemently opposses. Additionally, the White House continues to support $900 million for Amtrak in the current fiscal year. It remains unclear whether the Administration will issue a veto threat to conferees if funding to enforce the travel ban to Cuba is not restored.