President Bush fired back Thursday at members of Congress, including some Republicans, who have called for increased federal infrastructure spending in the wake of an Aug. 1 Minneapolis bridge collapse, even if that requires raising taxes.

Bush, at a morning news conference, took issue with Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who said Aug. 4 that an increase in federal taxes may be warranted to upgrade hundreds of structurally deficient bridges around the nation.

The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon, unchanged since 1993. Young and James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., the current panel chairman, battled Bush for two years over a $286.5 billion highway bill signed in 2005 that authorized far less than the $375 billion Young and Oberstar wanted to provide with a small boost in gas taxes.

“My suggestion would be that they revisit the process by which they spend gasoline money in the first place,” Bush said.

“From my perspective, the way it seems to have worked is that each member on that committee gets to set his or her own priority first, and then what’s ever left over is spent to a funding formula.

“That’s not the right way to prioritize the people’s money. . . . And, if bridges are a priority, let’s make sure we set that priority first and foremost, before we raise taxes,” Bush said.