Senate stalls Mexican truck trial

The U.S. Senate has stalled the Bush administration’s plans to give Mexican long-haul trucking rigs free access to United States roads and highways. On September 11, a bipartisan majority voted 74-24 to remove funds for the project from the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Transportation appropriations bill.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D, sponsored the amendment eliminating the program funding. "Tonight,” he said, “commerce did not trump safety. Tonight's vote is a vote for safety. It also represents a turning of the tide on the senseless, headlong rush this country has been engaged in for some time, to dismantle safety standards and a quality of life it took generations to achieve."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, had submitted a counter amendment to keep the Mexican truck demonstration project alive, but Cornyn's proposal was killed by a 80-18 bipartisan vote to table his amendment.

The majority in the House opposing the DOT Mexican trucking demonstration project means it is almost certain that the Dorgan amendment will survive when a conference committee reviews the DOT funding bill that will go to President Bush for his signature.