House committee approves $284B infrastructure bill News
House committee approves $284B infrastructure bill

[JURIST] The US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure [official website] Wednesday approved the Transportation Equity Act [Thomas bill summary; bill text, PDF; committee executive summary, PDF]. The six-year, $284 billion highway and mass transit bill stalled last year over funding disputes between the White House and Congress, but chances for passage are now improved, as the White House supports the current version. The infrastructure initiative will significantly expand the current highway spending program, which has been running on temporary extensions since the last six-year plan expired in 2003, and is meant to help solve problems of increased congestion and deteriorating conditions on US highways. A full House vote on the bill is expected next week. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org