Mexican Trucking. During consideration of the fiscal 2008 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill (H.R. 3074), Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) introduced an amendment to “prohibit the establishment of a program that allows Mexican truck drivers to operate beyond the commercial zones near the Mexican border.” This amendment was introduced in response to a new pilot program that was launched in September that allows Mexican truckers to operate beyond the 25-mile radius of the Mexican border as previously limited. Opponents of the Mexican trucks argue that the newly launched program sponsored by the Department of Transportation would pose a threat to U.S. security and displace American workers.
The Senate passed the Dorgan amendment to H.R. 3074 on September 11, 2007, by a vote of 75-23 (Roll Call 331). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because allowing Mexican trucks to travel freely across U.S. highways presents a threat to our national security and displaces American truckers whose jobs would be lost to Mexican workers.
