The Senate voted Monday afternoon to approve a House-passed bill aimed at improving the nation’s aviation infrastructure and modernizing air traffic control systems. The bill would provide more than $60 billion in funding through fiscal year 2015.
The Senate voted 75 to 20, ending a streak of 20 short-term funding extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration since 2007 as Democrats and Republicans struggled over a longer-term bill.
The House passed the bill last week on a vote of 248 to 169, with most Republicans voting for it and most Democrats voting against it.
A last-minute change in the bill, negotiated by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, made the vote on the measure into a litmus test of support for organized labor.
Democrats were critical of the provision in the bill that they said weakens the ability of unions to try to organize workers in the aviation and railroad industries.
“I don’t get why you hate unions and working people. I really don’t understand that,” Rep. Peter DeFazio, D- Ore., said to Republicans during the House debate on Friday.
And Rep. George Miller, D- Calif., called the labor union provision in the bill “an example of why it is counterproductive to negotiate with hostage takers.”
Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer
