The Senate Finance Committee put the last puzzle piece in place last night when they voted the revenue portions of S. 1813, MAP-21, out of committee. The committee voted 17-6, with four Republicans voting with Democrats, in order to complete the last step before the legislation could reach the Senate floor. Senators will now vote [...]

It’s been a whirlwind week in Washington, D.C. for transportation as both the House and the Senate try to build momentum to pass much-needed reauthorization bills. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unveiled their American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) on Tuesday at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol Building on an unusually warm [...]

The President will be speaking before a Joint session of Congress and the American people tonight to discuss the State of the Union. The first State of the Union was delivered by President George Washington in January 1790 and since then has become a vehicle for a sitting President to outline his legislative agenda for [...]

We are repeating this post because we thought the information would also be of interest to the readers of this blog. It was first posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 As the Louisiana Section was gearing up to release its first state Report Card this month, members realized that spreading the word of their findings [...]

UPDATED: 01/20/12 at 5:30pm   As the second session of the 112th Congress commences several ASCE priority issues remain unresolved. Thus far the 112th Congress has seen little legislative action on issues related to the civil engineering profession, however House and Senate leaders have indicated that infrastructure legislation could be a top priority in 2012. [...]

Another year. That’s what 2011 was. It wasn’t a year where compromise was forged, where national interests were made paramount, or where facts took the front seat to spin and brinkmanship. Instead, Congress is at an all-time low approval rating of 11%, the presidential field (from any direction) is a mess, and the problems that [...]

Since the beginning of our current economic downturn, pundits and armchair historians alike have compared the modern United States to the Roman Empire shortly before its decline. I usually change the channel or flip to the next page when I read such headlines, because to put it plainly – the US is not Rome. I [...]

Once again, we find an illustration of just how far apart the science and political worlds are – this time an actual illustration!  An editorial cartoon in The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper dedicated to reporting on Congress.  However, I caution anyone who wants to pursue this line of thinking too far.  Einstein’s famous quote [...]

Tags: ASCE, congress, earthquakes, engineering, NEHRP, science, wind hazards

Have you seen the new Audi ad?  Check out what the folks at Foreign Policy’s Passport blog had to say about it.  (And if you haven’t seen it, you can view a clip here as well.) My take on the new Audi commercial was slightly different – “Yes, let’s spend even more money on avoiding [...]

Tags: audi, infrastructure, Report Card for America's Infrastructure, transportation

This afternoon the House of Representatives passed legislation which will extend Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and surface transportation programs at current funding levels while Congress continues to work on long-term reauthorizations. The legislation is titled, “Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011” (H.R. 2887) and will extend the current FAA authorization until January [...]