Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today he was confident a multiyear bill to reauthorize the nation's surface transportation programs can be passed by Congress and signed into law by the August summer recess.

Speaking at the SMC³ annual winter meeting in Atlanta, LaHood said he was confident that the timetable could be met even with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and pledges of spending austerity from some members of Congress. That's because Congress recognizes that transportation funding is a bipartisan issue that benefits the nation through improved infrastructure and enhanced job-creation, LaHood said.

"There are no Republican or Democratic runways. There are no Republican or Democratic roads. There are no Republican or Democratic bridges," he said.

The administration has proposed a six-year reauthorization to fund the nation's infrastructure programs, including a $50 billion front-end infusion. The most recent surface transport reauthorization law expired on Sept. 30, 2009. The program has been operating on a series of short-term extensions since then.

LaHood reiterated the Obama administration's opposition to a proposal to increase federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel to fund transportation programs, maintaining the White House's stance that it's unwise to raise fuel taxes during a period of high unemployment and still-uncertain economic prospects. The federal fuels tax has not been raised since 1993.