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The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced a five-year, $494 billion highway policy bill June 18.

A multiyear bill with the aim of enhancing funding and safety for freight and commuter programs was unveiled by House Democrats on June 3.

WASHINGTON — At a hearing with House lawmakers, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said President Donald Trump’s legislative vision for the country’s highway system — which the White House intends to share with Congress — is being finalized.

Congress resumes its legislative agenda amid recent calls from Republican leaders on the transportation committees for passage of a highway bill meant to update a law expiring in seven months.

A State of the Union address that recounted the administration’s record and outlined a vision for achieving policies on immigration and healthcare was also a forum for President Donald Trump to briefly tell Congress to consider a highway policy bill not yet ready for prime time.

The next set of guidelines Congress approves for the country’s highway programs must improve roadways across rural corridors, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer said during a Commerce Committee hearing Jan. 28.

Comprehensive highway policy legislation will be unveiled later this month, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Jan. 16.

A coalition of nearly 40 prominent infrastructure stakeholders has urged the powerful Republican leader of the U.S. Senate to set up consideration for a comprehensive highway bill this year.

The ongoing impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump in the U.S. House of Representatives threatens to halt the legislative agenda for the rest of the year and possibly longer, but a comprehensive transportation policy bill is still on the table as the issue remains one of the few vestiges of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON — The transportation committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is likely to consider a long-awaited highway bill early next year, Rep. Peter DeFazio, the chamber’s top transportation policymaker, said in an exclusive interview with Transport Topics.