The U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 11, approved a measure that would bar the Department of Transportation from spending money on a pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways, just days after the program began. The proposal is part of a $106 billion transportation and housing spending bill that the Senate hopes to vote on as soon as today, Sept. 12.
The House-passed version of the transportation funding bill (H.R. 3074) includes a similar, but not identical, provision. Given overwhelming support for those provisions in both the House and Senate, final adoption of a prohibition in the final transportation appropriations bill seems highly likely. But the Bush administration also might seek to water down the provision to allow a cross-border program to continue with limitations on scope or duration.
Senate Amendment 2797, which passed by a 74-24 vote, was sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and co-sponsored by several other senators, including Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. Supporters of the measure argued the trucks are not yet proven safe. “Why the urgency?” Dorgan asked. “Why not stand up for the standards that we’ve created and developed in this country?”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who drafted a Republican alternative to Dorgan’s amendment, said the United States is applying tougher standards to Mexican trucks than to Canadian trucks and failing to live up to its North American Free Trade Agreement obligations. “I would never allow an unsafe truck on our highways, particularly Texas highways,” Cornyn said.
“Tonight’s decision by the Senate is a sad victory for the politics of fear and protectionism and a disappointing defeat for U.S. consumers and U.S. truck drivers,” said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator John Hill. “This decision robs consumers of significant new savings, deprives drivers of new opportunities to compete in Mexico and squanders millions in taxpayer dollars Congress has spent to put in place a sophisticated safety network for border crossings.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association thanked the Senate for its decision. “Congress has said enough is enough,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president. “They’re tired of the administration’s efforts to force the pilot program on the American people. Our nation’s safety and security should never be put at risk.”
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa also praised the Senate’s vote. “The American people have spoken, and Congress has spoken,” Hoffa said. “Now it’s time for the Bush administration to listen. We don’t want to share our highways with dangerous trucks from Mexico. On the sixth anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks, I’m sure every American is relieved that the Senate voted to make sure that potential threats to national security aren’t allowed to travel freely on our highways.”
