Leonard Boswell takes a matter-of-fact attitude toward his campaign for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We’ve got more work to do, and I’m going to be in the right place to work on it,” said Boswell, a Democrat who is shooting for a second term in the House against state Sen. Larry McKibben, R-Marshalltown.

“I’m pretty excited about continuing on and finishing up the things we’ve started,” he said.

One piece of “landmark legislation” Boswell mentioned, was a bill that separated the surface transportation trust fund from the general budget.

Under the new law, all gas-tax revenue will pay only for transportation improvements and will not be spread out over the budget, he said. The benefit to Iowa will be a 55 percent increase in transportation money, from $200 million to about $310 million.

“That’s significant,” Boswell said. “Now we want to tackle the aviation trust fund next year.”

He also cited the $40 million in federal spending that he garnered this year for his constituents in the Third District. About $10 million will speed construction on Iowa Highway 330 between Des Moines and Marshalltown, Boswell said.

The road is being expanded from two lanes to four lanes in an effort to stop the accidents that have occurred in recent years. The highway has seen so many crashes and fatalities that Boswell, a veteran of combat in Vietnam, calls it the “Ho Chi Minh Trail.”

In Burlington, a federally financed railroad overpass will carry 50 trains per day over Central Avenue, eliminating traffic congestion in the downtown area, he said.

A key issue McKibben has attacked Boswell on is “fast-track” trade legislation.

Fast-track, which was defeated in the House this fall, would give the president the authority to negotiate trade bills and send them to Congress for a simple yes/no vote. In 1997, Boswell opposed the fast-track effort — though it did not come to a vote — but he voted for it this year.

McKibben says Boswell abandoned the farmers of the Third District with his initial stance. Boswell answered that he just wanted a provision against child labor inserted in the bill.

“I’ve lived outside the country, and I’ve seen [child labor exploitation], and it’s a terrible thing,” he said.

“Why would Farm Bureau endorse me if I wasn’t very involved in agriculture?” he asked. “I’ve never been opposed to fast-track. [My position] has been bandied around and worn out and misrepresented.”