WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed the federal transportation spending bill for fiscal year 2002 by a vote of 426-1.  First District Congressman Paul Ryan voted in favor of the legislation.  Federal funding requested by Ryan for the Rock County Airport runway extension project has been included in the list of priorities that accompanies this spending bill.

"Paul Ryan did a great job bringing this issue to the Committee's attention and we were happy to honor his request," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young. The transportation spending bill now awaits legislative action in the U.S. Senate.

"This is good news for GM, its workers, and the other local businesses that will benefit from Rock County Airport's runway extension. This infrastructure improvement will help us retain and attract businesses that rely on air shipments.  Securing federal support for this vital runway expansion has been a high priority for me, and I'm glad the House Appropriations Committee has recognized its importance by including it on the list of spending priorities that goes with the transportation spending bill," Ryan said.

The runway extension is especially important to Janesville's General Motors (GM) plant, which uses the Rock County Airport to receive last-minute deliveries of auto parts.

Last year, Ryan succeeded in including $1.5 million in first-year federal funding for the Rock County Airport runway extension project in the final version of Congress' transportation spending bill. This year he is continuing to work to secure continued funding for this project.