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By a vote of 270 to 147, just a handful of votes shy of a veto-proof majority, the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday adopted the conference report for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2008. Like the majority of spending bills to be considered by Congress, the $105.6 billion measure faces an administration veto threat. The Senate will take up the bill next, but possibly not until after the Thanksgiving holiday.
The bill provides full funding for the federal-aid highway program at $40.2 billion as required by SAFETEA-LU, plus the extra $1 billion for structurally deficient bridges the Senate added to its bill in September. The bill also includes $9.65 billion for the transit program, a $640 million increase over FY 2007, but slightly less than the level called for in SAFETEA-LU. Additionally, the bill makes available $3.5 billion for airport capital improvements, the same amount as last year.
 
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