 Bedell sponsored several bold initiatives during his tenure in the United States House of Representatives . One initiative , which came from his constituents ' problems with the barge industry , focused on waterway usage fees . He introduced legislation in 1977 that would require the barge industry to pay a fee for using the waterways which , Bedell pointed out , the Government paid millions of dollars to create and maintain . Bedell 's original plan set the rate the barge industry paid as directly related to the amount the Government spent on waterway projects . This would have the additional effect of helping curb unnecessary waterway projects , and it was the same plan proposed by Pete Domenici in the Senate . 
