Border Trade Alliance

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee yesterday unanimously approved, by a vote of 66-0 , legislation restricting the Administration’s pilot program to allow Mexican trucks access to U.S. roadways. H.R. 1773, the Safe American Roads Act of 2007, establishes benchmarks for safety requirements and oversight while also limiting the pilot program to a duration of three years. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s move comes on the heels of US-DOT’s announcement that U.S. trucks would be granted reciprocal access to Mexico at the same time Mexican truckers can cross into the U.S. US-DOT’s announcement via a Federal Register notice came after the administration had received significant pressure from both Congress and industry groups who were critical about the lack of assurance that U.S. trucks would be given similar access on a timely basis into Mexico. Previously, Senators Murray (D-WA) and Feinstein (D-CA) succeeded in passing an amendment during the Appropriations Committee markup of the supplemental Iraq war funding bill (S. 965) to require a public comment period for DOT’s proposed pilot program as well as to delay its implementation until U.S. trucks were granted reciprocal access into Mexico. The Iraq-war spending legislation was vetoed by President Bush on Tuesday and a House vote to override the president’s veto failed on Wednesday of this week.

The BTA has long supported efforts to grant Mexican trucks access to U.S. roadways and similarly supports the removal of restrictions by the Mexican government that prevent U.S. carriers access to operate within Mexico.

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