In September, 2007, The Bush Administration began a pilot project to allow Mexican trucks to drive on U.S. highways. The project is a major, necessary tool for implementation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership initiated in 2005 by President Bush, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and former Canadian Prime Minster Paul Martin.
The SPP calls for “harmonizing” the borders among the three nations. The Bush Administration sites the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as its authority for both the Partnership and the Mexican truck project.
Many in Congress expressed safety concerns over the truck project. Others believed that allowing foreign trucks on our highways was a national security risk as well as a risk to our national sovereignty.
As a result of those concerns, within weeks of the announcement of the project, both the Senate and House of Representatives rushed to curtail the project, with both houses passing legislation to de-fund it, thereby essentially killing the project.
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced an amendment to the Department of Transportation’s appropriation bill which specifically demanded the removal of all funding to the Mexican truck project. That amendment was approved by a bipartisan vote of 74-24 in the Senate. The appropriations bill was then passed by the full Congress and signed into law by President Bush on December 26, 2007.
However, much to the dismay of many in Congress, the Bush Administration has simply ignored the provision and instead has moved forward with the Mexican truck project.
As reported by Jerome Corsi on World Net Daily, this situation has created the possibility of a Constitutional crisis since it is the responsibility of the Congress to appropriate or remove funding for government programs.
Melissa Delaney, spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association indicated the administration will simply ignore the congressional funding issue.
In defiance of Congress, Delaney said, “We are committed to incremental steps in demonstrating the safety of the cross-border program…”
However, contrary to that pledge of safety in the program, actual inspections of the Mexican trucks proves that they are not safe to be on U.S. highways, say some experts.
According to the Cullen law firm of Washington, D.C., which has been collecting safety inspection reports in preparation of a law suit to stop the truck project, in the span of one year, September 2006 to September, 2007, four of the Mexican companies participating in the program collected more than 1,700 safety violations.
One company was Trinity Industries de Mexico, which was cited more that 1,100 times averaging 112 violations per truck.
Another major concern about safety is the ability of Mexican drivers to read and understand English language highway signs.
During an incredible exchange before a Senate hearing on the subject, between Senator Dorgan and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, it was revealed that the English proficiency test for Mexican drivers actually allowed them to answer in Spanish.
Said Peters, under questioning from a shocked Senate Panel, “…answering in Spanish, the drivers explain they understand the English language highway signs.”
Countered Senator Dorgan, “if you answer in Spanish, you’re not English proficient.”
Secretary Peters’, and the Bush Administration’s refusal to stop the project, though ordered by Congress to do so, has led several in the nation to call for the Transportation Secretary’s firing, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Teamster President James Hoffa “It’s a disgrace that Mary Peters is still in office. She has broken the law and defied the will of the American people by exposing them to dangerous trucks from Mexico.”
The Teamsters Union has filed suit to stop the Mexican trucks from crossing the border.
