ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

he House passed a six-year, $286.4 billion highway bill Friday, paving the way for Senate approval that could lead to the measure becoming law upon President Bush's anticipated signature, news services reported.

The 412-8 vote would send the president a measure that will generate new federal money for every state working to expand and repair its roadways, bridges and rail systems, the Associated Press reported.

A dispute on a paragraph in the 1,000-page bill that would reopen a closed Montana air based stalled the measure Thursday night, Bloomberg reported.

Lawmakers want to finish work on the measure that would replace an old law that expired in September 2003, AP said. Congress had extended that measure 11 times since then to continue to fund road and transportation projects.

Lawmakers reached a compromise on the bill's spending level earlier this week, and the White House backed off a veto threat it had originally issued over any bill greater than the $284 billion level passed by the House in March.

(Click here for previous coverage.)