WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats are ripping Gov. Mitch Daniels' Major Moves highway program in a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill.

A U.S. House transportation subcommittee looking at the issue of highway privatization is focusing on Daniels' multibillion-dollar deal to lease the Indiana Toll Road, and leaders are talking about trying to overturn it, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

The subcommittee got a very negative assessment of Major Moves from the lawmaker who chairs the same panel in the Indiana House, Rep. Terri Austin, a Democrat from Anderson.

Austin told committee members that she believes it is wrong for short-term public officials to deal away public assets for generations.

"Ultimately, the public should have some level of discomfort with elected officials who serve two-, four- and six-year terms when they propose to enter into 75 or 99-year contractual obligations," Austin said.

Austin blasted Daniels and his aides for keeping details of the deal secret from the Legislature and the public, not giving lawmakers enough time to make an informed decision.

"Indiana, as you know, has a part-time Legislature, and the eight weeks of the 2006 legislative session did not afford enough time to consider such a complex and far-reaching proposal before we were asked to cast a vote that would effectively tie the hands of both the executive branch and the legislative branch for decades to come," Austin said.

Top congressional Democrats have talked about trying to reverse Major Moves, even though part of the money is already being spent on other highway projects.

Gov. Mitch Daniels offered sharp criticism of the man who chaired Thursday's hearing, Oregon Rep. Pete DeFazio.

"This is a big-government extremist talking, and we don't need his advice, frankly," Daniels said. "His home state of Oregon is so desperate to pay its road bills that they've already got a much higher gas tax and they're talking about putting a GPS on people's cars so they can tax you by the mile instead of the gallon. So, we really don't need his advice."

Daniels said he's not concerned about the possibility of Washington overturning the deal. He said he doesn't think it could be done legally and calls the current hearings nothing but Congressional posturing.

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