JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill says she will try to amend a transportation bill to strip funding for large construction projects in Afghanistan and use that money instead for roads and bridges in the U.S.
McCaskill hopes to attach her proposal to legislation re-authorizing the federal highway funding program.
The Democratic senator's amendment would prohibit financing of Afghanistan infrastructure projects of more than $50,000 under two initiatives - the Commanders' Emergency Response Program and the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund. It also would redirect the remaining money in those programs to road and bridge projects in the U.S.
McCaskill had proposed late last year to add the provision to defense legislation, but she was unsuccessful in doing so.