Senate Votes to Shore Up Transportation Dept. Funds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Wednesday to shift $8 billion into the highway trust fund, restoring solvency to an account that is going broke and staving off what could have been crippling delays in federal aid for road and bridge projects around the country. The voice vote came five days after Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the trust fund would be out of money by the end of the month and urged Congress to approve the $8 billion replenishment bill that the White House previously had threatened to veto. The House passed a nearly identical bill in July and was expected to act quickly to send a final version of the legislation to the president. President Bush is now expected to sign the bill because the funds were depleted faster than first estimated.