WASHINGTON - The push by the Bush Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation to privatize, create public-private partnerships and expand tolling of Interstates and other highways isnt getting rave reviews from Congress.

Leading members of the House Subcommittee on Transit and Highways from both parties have become the latest group to sharply criticize the rush to sell off or lease highways to private investors and expand tolling.

"Some would say its a panacea, that itll somehow supplant . . . the many tens of billions of dollars raised and spent from federal gas taxes," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., subcommittee chairman. "It wont."

At a Congressional hearing last month, DeFazio said he had "real doubts" about not only the long-term lease or sale of existing highways, but also was "somewhat dubious" about using tolls to build new highway capacity or to add tolls to roads now free.

Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee, ranking Republican on the subcommittee, said he shared many of DeFazios misgivings. Duncan said he was concerned "whether some state officials arent trying to get all of the money in some upfront way so officials 25, 30 or 50 years from now might be left holding the bag."

Rep. James Oberstar, DMinn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a member of the subcommittee, joined in the criticism.

"In this no-tax atmosphere, governors, legislators, chambers of commerce paint halos around their heads, pose for pictures and say, No taxes, no new taxes, but then they run around and say, Were going to toll this and were going to impose a fee for that," said Oberstar.

"The word toll is spelled T-A-X. Dont try to sugarcoat it or disguise it as something else," Oberstar added.

A USDOT official appearing before the subcommittee said several trends, including declining fuel-tax revenues, were driving DOT and states to seek more private infrastructure investment.

For more than two years, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members have been criticizing the Bush Administration for its hard-line stance against raising the federal fuel tax.

And for just as long, the administration has been saying no to higher fuel taxes and asking Congress to look at alternatives for financing highways.