The start of the cross-border trucking program with Mexico was met with criticism from various parties, including Sen. Hillary Clinton and other presidential hopefuls.
Clinton, D-N.Y., said she would work to address safety, security and environmental matters related to the program. “Earlier this year, I called on the administration to halt the program until numerous concerns with the program were adequately addressed,” she said. “Recently the Inspector General issued yet another report concluding that there remain ongoing issues with the safety and the security of the pilot program. Nonetheless, the administration has chosen to push forward with the program in the face of these concerns.”
Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., said the program endangered American jobs and safety while violating congressional mandates.
“Multinational corporations and their Washington lobbyists greased the way to extend NAFTA onto American highways and streets, without regard for the impact on the environment or on the safety of America’s workers and families,” Edwards said. “Last month, an audit found that the database used to monitor Mexican drivers with license convictions – known as the ’52nd State System’ – has failed to record thousands of convictions. Mexican diesel trucks will not be required to meet the stricter emissions standards of states like California.”
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, D-Calif., called it a “terrible decision” and hoped the Senate would pass an amendment he and House members had supported to the FY2008 Appropriations Act, which prohibited funds from being applied to the program.
“The Department of Transportation has demonstrated that it is a better advocate for the interests of Mexican trucking companies than it is for the interests of the American people,” Hunter said. “Congress directed DOT to certify just how it intended to apply and enforce its trucking standards. Rather than working with Congress to address the safety and security challenges presented by this program, DOT has decided to move ahead and open our Southern land border to Mexican truckers.”
Teamster General President Jim Hoffa said the union would fight it to the Supreme Court. The Teamsters, Public Citizen, the Environmental Law Foundation and the Sierra Club unsuccessfully sued to halt the program.
