President to Sign Transportation Bill Today

President Obama will sign the new highway funding bill today at 4 p.m. EDT in a ceremony that will include construction workers and students two groups that will benefit from H.R. 4348. Both houses of Congress passed it June 29; it provides highway funds through 2014 and prevents a scheduled increase in the interest rate on student loans.

Section 1536 of the bill is a |!|Sense of Congress on Harbor Maintenance|!| stating that |!|the Administration should request full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for operating and maintaining the navigation channels of the United States;that the amounts in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund should be fully expended to operate and maintain the navigation channels of the United States; and that Congress should ensure that other programs projects and activities of the Civil Works Program of the Corps of Engineers especially those programs projects and activities relating to inland navigation and flood control are not adversely impacted.|!|