Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.
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We have argued that the Bush administration should give Congress a plan to ensure that all Mexican trucks entering this country are as safe as licensed U.S. carriers. Because the administration has not yet done so, Congress has been forced to act.
On Tuesday the House voted 395-18, an overwhelming bipartisan majority, to end a pilot program supported by the administration to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate their vehicles throughout the United States to help fulfill the North American Free Trade Agreement.
We have said we support free trade and its potential to create jobs. But the veto-proof margin of approval to end the program should send a strong message to the administration that free trade doesn’t make sense without guarantees that our highways remain safe to travel.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., chairman of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways, told the Associated Press: “I’m outraged that the Bush administration for political purposes would jeopardize the safety of the traveling public in the United States.”
The Senate is considering similar legislation as part of a transportation spending bill, though the wire service reported the bill is unlikely to be enacted before President Bush leaves office in January. Still, we would hope the Senate shows the level of distaste for the pilot program displayed by the House.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3 million businesses nationwide, had been encouraging congressmen to support the pilot program on grounds it helps to reduce pollution and congestion at the U.S.-Mexico border. But that is a specious argument from an organization that has fought efforts to strengthen clean air regulations and expand the role of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Does the chamber really want its members to tangle with potentially unsafe Mexican trucks at high speeds? It just doesn’t make sense, which is why the pilot program should end.
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