R.G. Edmonson | Mar 06, 2012 4:02PM EST
Nearly 200 mayors joined the chorus of local officials and businesses urging Congress to enact multiyear surface transportation legislation while the turmoil over the subject swirled on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., failed to get a minimum of 60 votes on a cloture motion that he needed to move forward with debate on a two-year transportation bill.
The Hill newspaper reported that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the 52-44 vote does not signal the end of the transportation legislation.
“I would point out there are demands for amendments on both sides, and we are very close to getting an agreement,” McConnell said. “I think a no vote is not an end for the bill but a beginning.”
Senate Republicans are seeking to attach amendments that call for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and delay of an Environmental Protection Agency rule that requires industrial boilers and incinerators to comply with “maximum achievable control technology.”
Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobinwash.