In Washington, the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) spotlighted the cuts' unfairness, saying any reductions "should be balanced, with proportionate reductions in both highway and public transportation categories." The skew flies in the face of the policy priorities of the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA). STPP director Hank Dittmar condemned the imbalance, noting that "transportation plans from around the country conclude we cannot combat congestion by building more highways."

In the run-up to the vote, an amendment offered by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) to transfer all federal funds for new transit projects to the Highway Trust Fund was defeated. Three of New Jersey's 11 Representatives (Franks, Smith and Freylingheusen) signed a letter against the amendment circulated to House members. On the House floor, NJ Rep. Menendez cited a letter opposing the amendment from NJ Governor Christine Whitman numerous times.

A successful amendment authored by Rep. Jerry Nadler prohibits use of 1996 federal dollars for the west side Miller Highway tear-down planned to accommodate Donald Trump's Riverside South project. Trump abused Nadler in a variety of media but said the move was immaterial to his development plans. A federal "demonstration" project was to have demolished the newly rebuilt elevated roadway and moved it to a trench to permit the construction of a waterfront park as part of the Trump project. Last month, Mayor Giuliani had stated a desire to apply the project's funding to more pressing capital projects.

Another Nadler amendment -- to eliminate the federal mandate for one-way toll collection on the Verrazano Bridge -- was defeated. To avoid the toll, many motorists, especially truckers, cross lower Manhattan to the free west-bound tunnels to leave the city. Unsurprisingly, S.I. Rep. Susan Molinari reacted with hostility, telling the Staten Island Advance that "If we could find a way of stopping the MTA from forcing us to subsidize Jerry Nadler's subway, we'd do that." But Molinari's windshield perspective ignores 1990 census data showing that about one-third of Staten Island's workforce commutes by public transit, and the fact that Staten Island motorists would encounter severe gridlock upon leaving Staten Island without adequate NYC subway and bus service.