The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) today voiced its opposition to Senate Amendment 2797 to H.R. 3074, the FY2008 Appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies. The amendment, proposed by Senator Byron L. Dorgan, would prohibit the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) from continuing a pilot program to grant Mexican trucks access to U.S. roadways and similarly removes the restrictions that had prevented U.S. carriers access to operate within Mexico.
The BTA strongly supports US-DOT’s actions to-date in bringing forth the proposed pilot and opposes any further action to delay its implementation. Granting Mexican carriers access to the U.S. fulfills a pending commitment as part of NAFTA and will provide U.S. trucks access to operate in Mexico.
“Last year, over $330 billion in goods were traded between the United States and Mexico using surface transportation,” stated Maria Luisa O’Connell, President of the Border Trade Alliance, “DOT’s pilot program is another step toward increasing economic activity on both sides of our border with Mexico.”
In March, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters addressed the proposed pilot program at the BTA Conference in Washington, D.C.
Leave a Reply
The BTA reserves the right to post comments it feels are appropriate to creating a dialog around border issues. We are interested in hearing from all points of view and encourage those with unique, constructive perspectives to contribute their view points to help shape the future of our borders. BTA is a tri-national organization and will not accept posts that contain derogatory comments made towards citizens, groups, or organizations of any kind.