Bush pledges to veto Mexican truck ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 12, 2001) — As two Senate committees consider legislation that would prevent Mexican trucks from operating in the United States, President Bush is talking about a veto.

The threat of a veto was made in a letter Wednesday to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.V.). It follows a vote in the U.S. House late last month where lawmakers voted 285-143 to block funding for the Dept. of Transportation to issue permits to let Mexican trucking companies operate beyond the narrow commercial trading zone in the United States.

The provision is part of next fiscal year’s transportation funding package, which in the House-passed version also stripped $88 million US Bush requested for extra Mexican truck inspections. (FY 2002 starts this October.)

In the Senate version of the transportation appropriations bill, Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has included a provision under which Mexican trucks wouldn’t get full access to U.S. roads until American officials inspect them twice at Mexican trucking facilities. The provision also would prohibit Mexican trucks from entering this country until there are enough trained inspectors to handle the load, according to published reports.

Murray is chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, which along with the Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill today.

source: truckinginfo.com