Members of the House Public Works and Transportation committee discussed amendments to H.R. 2950, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Infrastructure Act of 1991 in preparation for its introduction to the House floor. The bill involves a $153.5 billion appropriation to be spent over five years for new highways, the repair and improvement of the nation’s present highway and bridge system and improvements to the nation’s mass transit systems. It also includes a $.05 additional gasoline tax for maintenance of the nation’s highway system. The Bush administration opposes federal appropriations for the improvement of mass transit systems, preferring to allow state and local governments to cover the systems in their own areas, and also opposes the extra $.05 gasoline tax.