[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 483 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 483

 To fully fund the construction of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 1997

Mr. Robb (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To fully fund the construction of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge Full 
Funding Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) traffic congestion imposes serious economic burdens on 
        the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, costing each commuter 
        an estimated $1,000 per year;
            (2) the volume of traffic in the metropolitan Washington, 
        D.C., area is expected to increase by more than 70 percent 
        between 1990 and 2020;
            (3) the deterioration of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge 
        and the growing population of the metropolitan Washington, 
        D.C., area contribute significantly to traffic congestion;
            (4) the Bridge serves as a vital link in the Interstate 
        System and in the Northeast corridor;
            (5) identifying alternative methods for maintaining this 
        vital link of the Interstate System is critical to addressing 
        the traffic congestion of the area;
            (6) the Bridge is--
                    (A) the only drawbridge in the metropolitan 
                Washington, D.C., area on the Interstate System;
                    (B) the only segment of the Capital Beltway with 
                only 6 lanes; and
                    (C) the only segment of the Capital Beltway with a 
                remaining expected life of less than 10 years;
            (7) the Bridge is the only part of the Interstate System 
        owned by the Federal Government;
            (8)(A) the Bridge was constructed by the Federal 
        Government;
            (B) prior to the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 
        Government has contributed 100 percent of the cost of building 
        and rehabilitating the Bridge; and
            (C) the Federal Government has a continuing responsibility 
        to fund future costs associated with the upgrading of the 
        Interstate Route 95 crossing, including the rehabilitation and 
        reconstruction of the Bridge; and
            (9) the Federal Government should provide full funding for 
        construction of the replacement Bridge.

SEC. 3. FULL FUNDING OF BRIDGE.

    (a) Interchanges.--Section 404(5)(F) of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial 
Bridge Authority Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-59; 109 Stat. 629) is 
amended by inserting ``interchange,'' after ``roadway,''.
    (b) Funding.--Section 104(i) of title 23, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``From'' and all that 
        follows through ``final engineering'' and inserting ``The 
        Secretary shall obligate sums made available under paragraph 
        (3) for final engineering and construction''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund 
        (other than the Mass Transit Account) for fiscal years 1998 
        through 2004 such sums as are necessary to carry out this 
        subsection.''.
                                 <all>