Bush defies law; Mexico trucks still roll in U.S.

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is going ahead with a controversial pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways despite a new law by Congress against it.

The decision to proceed with the four-month-old program, which allows participating Mexican trucking companies to send loads throughout the United States, comes despite language in a recently signed spending bill aimed at blocking it.

The Department of Transportation is taking advantage of a loophole in the new law, which prohibits the government from spending money to "establish" the program. The government says the new rules don't apply since the current program started in September.