Congress gave final approval Friday to a $109 billion transportation funding bill as part of a package that includes a measure holding down interest rates on federal student loans.

Both issues are priorities of the president, and the legislation demonstrated rare bipartisan agreement in the deeply divided Congress.

The package won Senate approval with a 74-19 vote after earlier passing the House 373-52. It now goes to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

Compromises on the transportation bill and the student loan issue, as well as a third component reauthorizing national flood insurance, came in rare bipartisan agreement during the same week that House Republicans enraged Democrats by voting to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

Passing the package meant Congress beat looming deadlines, with highway repair funding and the lower student loan rates set to expire on June 30.

The student loan measure will keep interest rates at the current 3.4 percent rate, which was set to double to 6.8 percent on July 1.

Obama brought national attention to the student loan issue and started campaigning for it back in April. After the certain Republican candidate for president, Mitt Romney, also said he supported extending the lower rate, Congress got serious about looking for ways to make it happen for another year.

During negotiations this week, legislators decided the revenue to pay the $6 billion cost should come from changes to the way companies fund pension programs. The deal would also limit how long undergraduate students can go to school without accruing interest on student loans to six years.