Prior to naming conferees, the Senate passed by voice vote the "Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2005," the seventh extension since the law expired Sept. 30, 2003. This bill would authorize an additional $3.1 billion in contract authority for the Federal Highway Administration, an additional $643 million for the Federal Transit Administration, $43.6 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and $47.7 million for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. President Bush is expected to sign the measure before the May 31 expiration of the current stopgap measure.

Congress is adjourned the upcoming week for the Memorial Day recess. While your Senators and Representative are home, please be sure to contact them, even if they are not on the conference committee, and urge them to complete work on the bill by the end of the next extension.

Conferees representing the Environment and Public Works Committee:
James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.)
John W. Warner (R-Va.)
Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.)
George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio)
Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.)
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
John Thune (R-S.D.)
Jim DeMint (R-S.C)
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)
David Vitter (R-La.)
James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.)
Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.)
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)
Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)
Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

Conferees representing the Finance Committee:
Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)
Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)
Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)

Conferees representing the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee:
Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
Wayne Allard (R-Colo.)
Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.)
Tim Johnson (D-S.D)
Jack Reed (D-R.I)

Conferees representing the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii)
John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)