The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Transportation was published in the Senate section on pages S14610 on Nov. 16, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999
Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss S. 1501, the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999. During the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Surface Transportation hearing on this bill, I brought the attention of the entire room to a deadly tractor trailer accident that occurred in Atlanta in the early morning hours of August 31, 1999. Two lives were lost as a result of that accident, but if the incident would have occurred at a busier time of day, I shudder to think of the fatalities that could have resulted.
In 1998, 221 people were killed in Georgia as a result of truck related crashes, and thousands more were injured. Recently, I met with two people who lost their families in truck related accidents. These stories are ones which I hope will become less frequent as a result of the action we are taking in S. 1501. This bill has the opportunity to improve safety for drivers and truckers.
S. 1501 would make the Office of Motor Carrier a separate office within the Department of Transportation (DOT), as opposed to being within the Federal Highway Administration as it is now. This action will allow Congress to statutorily mandate safety as the main focus of the office. Additionally, it promotes enforcement as a main goal and provides some teeth to this new agency's punitive actions.
However, there are some areas within the legislation that I believe need attention as we work to form a final bill. For example, I believe that a conflict of interest provision should be included. Without such a provision, the new agency could continue to award contracts to the very industry that operates under the federal motor carrier safety regulations the new agency will administer. An unbiased, multifaceted panel would be a better option to conduct sensitive research with federal money.
In fact, the DOT's Inspector General (IG) released a report to Congress that cites the too close relationship between the industry and the regulators who oversee it:
[A collaborative, educational, partnership-with industry] is a good approach for motor carriers that have safety as a top priority, but it has gone too far. It does not work effectively with firms that persist in violating safety rules and do not promptly take sustained corrective action.
I believe this finding supports the inclusion of conflict of interest standards in the final bill.
S. 1501 does a great deal to improve motor carrier safety in this country, but we can do more. I hope that the conferees on this bill will give strong consideration to including a conflict of interest provision in the final bill.
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