This vote was on an amendment by Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that would have prohibited funds in the fiscal 2010 transportation and housing appropriations bill from going toward museums.

Coburn said his amendment “requires us to prioritize.”

“Unbeknownst to most Americans, money that is collected from the purchase of your gasoline has been used—$28 million of it, as a matter of fact—to fund transportation museums. That may be a great use in a time when we are not in the economic situation and circumstances we find ourselves in today. What this amendment does is say, until we get out of the trouble we are in and until the trust fund gets back to where it needs to be, we shouldn’t be prioritizing and we shouldn’t be earmarking money for transportation museums,” Coburn said.

Tom Carper, D-Del., did not speak to Coburn’s broader point, but did say the amendment should be defeated because of the impact it would have on a planned science museum in his state, which the bill would help fund at $190,000.

“It is a small amount of money for a great payoff for a lot of kids, tens of thousands of kids who will visit that science museum, who will be excited about science and, hopefully, will go on to have careers as scientists, inventors, and engineers,” Carper said.

By a vote of 41-57, the amendment was rejected.  All but six Republicans present voted for the amendment.  Of Democrats present, all but 7 voted against the amendment (including the most progressive members).  The end result is that the bill went forward without language that would have prohibited the bill’s funding from going to museums.