 Congress eventually passed a watered @-@ down version of the original plan put forward by Bedell and Senator Pete Domenici . The compromise version enacted a tax on the gasoline barges used and put it into a " trust " for waterway projects . While other supporters of waterway usage fees , including Domenici , backed the compromise , Bedell gave a <unk> plea for his colleagues to oppose it . He viewed it as lacking a crucial element of the original plan - that of capital recovery . The trust was optional , and the Government could spend money on waterway projects irrespective of the trust . The compromise was eventually signed by Jimmy Carter . Bedell 's original plan never made it through the House of Representatives , but he continued to introduce it in succeeding sessions . It would not , however , get a floor vote in succeeding sessions . 
