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“BARRING ACCESS OF LONG-HAUL MEXICAN TRUCKERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1752-E1753 on Sept. 10, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
BARRING ACCESS OF LONG-HAUL MEXICAN TRUCKERS
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speech of
HON. CANDICE S. MILLER
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, which will put a definite end to this Mexican truck pilot program. Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, this program never should have begun in the first place.
Before coming to Congress, I served for 8 years as the Michigan Secretary of State, with a principal responsibility as the chief motor vehicle administrator, and I was also the Chairman of the Traffic Safety Commission. I was responsible for all the licensing in the State, including of commercial drivers and hazardous material endorsements. Given my background I had immediate concerns about how the Department of Transportation's pilot program might compromise the safety of our roads.
In Mexico, licensing requirements are very poor and fraud in their system runs rampant. In fact, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard in testimony from the Department of Transportation's Inspector General that 1 in 5 Mexican driving records contained an error of some kind. If we had a 20 percent error rate in the United States, we would consider it a crisis.
There are also concerns, about the insurance provisions of this program. American trucks must carry expensive insurance policies in the event they are in an accident. What happens if a Mexican truck has an accident somewhere in the U.S.? Good luck to the victims of that accident who will try to collect on damages from a company down in Mexico.
Mexican drivers are allowed to work far longer hours than American workers, resulting in widespread drug use in the profession. Presently, there is no system under which secure testing could take place so to ensure that the drivers coming into our country are drug free.
In response to these concerns, the Congress passed language in the Iraq War supplemental requiring the Department of Transportation to only conduct a pilot program under certain conditions. Subsequently, the House, by a vote of 411-3, the Safe American Roads Act, which placed additional restrictions on these Mexican trucks coming into the country.
Unfortunately, the Department of Transportation has not taken the hint and continues to promote this program without addressing the public's safety concerns about this program.
Hopefully, this legislation will make it clear that Congress does not want this program to continue and that it should be terminated.
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