Mexican trucks to keep rolling in U.S.

Administration's move angers foes in Congress

By David Washburn

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

December 27, 2007

The Bush administration will continue to operate a controversial, cross-border trucking program despite language in the $555 billion appropriations bill signed by President Bush yesterday aimed at eliminating the program's funding.

The administration's move, while not unexpected, sparked outrage from Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have fought to kill the three-month-old pilot program, which allows long-haul Mexican trucks to travel throughout the United States.

“The administration seems to believe that the law doesn't apply to them,” Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the author of the appropriations bill amendment that sought to cut funding for the program, said in a statement.

Dorgan and other opponents of the program say the amendment's language is unambiguous, and that the administration's action will be challenged in Congress and the courts.

Dorgan, more than 100 other members of Congress and several interest groups, such as the Teamsters union and independent truck drivers, contend that the program lacks sufficient safeguards to ensure that Mexican trucks meet the same standards as American trucks.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, has said the program demonstrates a “complete disregard” for the safety of U.S. motorists and the security threat posed by Mexican truckers.