As Congress returns from its August recess, several major construction bills are pending, including a $21-billion Water Resources Development Act, a four-year aviation reauthorization and fiscal 2008 appropriations. WRDA is near final congressional approval, but Sept. 30 deadlines loom for aviation and appropriations, and those bills are far from done. Congress may have to pass stopgap bills to keep that federal aid flowing.
The struggle to enact the first WRDA since December 2000 may soon end. By a strong 381-40 vote, the House on Aug. 1 passed a compromise worked out with Senate negotiators. A final Senate floor vote may come this month. "I think it's going to pass overwhelmingly," says one source. "I can't see how the bill can get fewer than 75 to 80 votes." If the Senate majority follows the House's, it would exceed the two-thirds needed to override a promised veto.