Posted on 06/26/2002 7:30:55 PM PDT by WakeUpChristian
WASHINGTON (June 26, 2002 4:37 p.m. EDT) - Mexican trucks could start plying U.S. highways this summer as the Transportation Department completes safety enhancements required by Congress, says a department report obtained by The Associated Press.
Lawmakers ordered a number of safety checks to be in place before Mexican trucks could travel much beyond the Southwestern border, and a department inspector general's report says many of them are in place or will be in time to let the trucks on U.S. roads by midsummer.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta "concluded that while the department still has some work to do, he fully expects to be in a position this summer to certify to the president that the border can be opened," says the report, which The Associated Press got from outside the department. The department will present the findings to Congress on Thursday.
A $59.6 billion transportation spending bill that let the trucks travel deep into the country mandated that the inspector general certify that safety measures were in place and the transportation secretary signed off on the assessment.
Mexican trucks gained full access to U.S. roads beginning in 1995 under a provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
But Congress delayed their entry twice amid concerns about safety and from labor groups. An arbitration panel ruled the United States was violating NAFTA by refusing to comply with that provision, but it also allowed the country to impose safety measures.
President Bush pledged to comply with NAFTA and Congress agreed after much debate last year. But it required that more inspectors be hired and full inspection sites be built at busy ports. It also required Mexico to limit truckers' driving hours and create a commercial drivers license database.
The report says more inspectors still need to be hired, more inspection sites need to be built, federal and state inspectors still need reliable electronic access to Mexican and U.S. databases and the safety monitoring system for Mexican carriers is not yet completed.
The inspector general believes these matters can be addressed by midsummer, the report says.
The report also urges Congress to push Texas and New Mexico to pass laws letting state officers take action against unauthorized drivers found on U.S. roads.
U.S. officials have said they do not expect Mexican long-haul carriers to flood across the border once it is declared open. Many will continue to operate within commercial border zones.
Last year, U.S. and Mexican commercial truck crossings totaled 4.3 million, including trucks that made multiple crossings. That's down from 4.5 million in 2000.
Mexican carriers have sought 20 applications for long-haul authority, which is permission to drive beyond the border zones, the report said. Thirteen of the applicants plan to operate a combined 59 long-haul commercial vehicles. The other seven applications were incomplete, the report said.
Associated Press writer Jonathan Salant contributed to this story.
George will be "just shy of giddy" over this
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contest starts each night between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. p.d.t - there's still time to place well tongiht - give it a try if you dare
Are these guys going to carry the same insurance American rigs carry?
Are they going to be stopped and inspected as often as the American rigs, as often as three times in the same day?
Are they going to have to maintain log books, limit driving hours, post tarriffs, abide by the same rate regulations?
We continue to rape this country and rape is not too strong a word.
Wed Jun 26, 7:49 PM ET
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trade legislation advanced in the House Wednesday in a pitched, partisan battle, clearing the way for talks with the Senate on a measure to strengthen President Bush ( news - web sites)'s ability to negotiate global agreements.
The 216-215 vote, with one Republican voting "present," capped an intense week of maneuvering in which GOP leaders fought to quell internal unrest that nearly caused the bill's defeat last week, while fending off sharp Democratic criticism.
The bill would give the president authority to negotiate international trade agreements and submit them to Congress for a yes-or-no vote, no changes allowed.
The measure provides expanded assistance to workers laid off because of imports, although the aid is less than the Democratic-controlled Senate has in its measure.
"The bottom line is you're either a supporter of free trade ... or you're not," said Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y.
Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the bill largely repackaged legislation that had passed the House in December.
He described the new measure as largely a procedural step designed to strengthen the hand of House negotiators in compromise talks with the Senate, saying his goal was to make those negotiations "a little bit fair."
But Democrats charged that some portions of the bill had never been passed by the House or any committee. They accused Republicans of resorting to unprecedented procedural steps to enact new legislation under the guise of a routine procedural vote.
"This is not an insult to the members of the Ways and Means Committee," said Rep. Charles Rangel ( news, bio, voting record) of New York, the panel's senior Democrat. "This is not just an insult to the House rules and traditions. It's an insult to the American people."
Other Democrats attacked the bill on its merits, but much of the debate was tinged with anger and sarcasm.
The measure was pulled from the House floor last week when it appeared headed for defeat. Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, announced plans to debate the bill on little more than an hour's notice — an unusually compressed timetable, particularly for a measure that has created controversy.
The issue roiled Republican waters last week when Rep. Jim DeMint ( news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., accused Thomas, R-Calif., of blindsiding textile-state lawmakers with portions of the measure.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., came to the defense of Thomas, the Ways and Means chairman, and the leadership has been seeking support to bring the measure back in the days since.
Apart from the controversy over textiles, Thomas and fellow Republicans have drawn criticism from Democrats charging they were denied the usual parliamentary protections that go to the minority.
Bush has made the measure a priority.
It would permit the president to negotiate international trade deals and give Congress a chance to accept or reject them without changes.
A similar bill cleared the House in December by a one-vote margin. The Senate passed its version of the legislation this spring on a more comfortable bipartisan vote, after first adding millions of dollars in expanded federal assistance for workers hurt by import competition.
Under the House measure, worker assistance would rise from $80 million annually to $110 million, compared with $300 million in the Senate measure.
Senate-passed assistance provisions to help fishermen and farmers were omitted, as was a proposed new benefit that would offer wage insurance for some laid-off workers.
The House measure also includes a health insurance subsidy for workers laid off due to imports. Government assistance would be set at 60 percent of overall cost, rather than the 70 percent in the Senate bill.
The issue of interest to textile-state lawmakers involves trade rules for fabric made in the United States, shipped to Caribbean countries to be cut and sewn into clothing, then shipped back for sale.
Over Thomas' objections, textile state lawmakers won passage of legislation earlier this year specifying that to qualify for preferential trade treatment, fabric must be woven and dyed, printed and finished in the United States before being shipped overseas for cutting.
But DeMint claimed that when Thomas inserted the provision into the trade measure, he created a loophole.
Thomas vigorously denied it.
So they admit there will be more laid-off American workers from this. We're losing too many jobs in this country and taxpayers are already maxed out.
Does your crystal ball explain why it hasn't happened yet?
Stay Safe !
The measure provides expanded assistance to workers laid off because of imports
So they admit there will be more laid-off American workers from this. We're losing too many jobs in this country and taxpayers are already maxed out.
Trade invariably creates more jobs than it eliminates, and because the trade-off shift workers from lower to higher productivity jobs, average wages rise as well. This measure is just the usual overhead we are forced to pay (due in part to the caterwalling of protectionists like yourself) to the socialists every freakin' time rational, pro-growth measures are initiated.
Mexican trucks are currently limited to a small area just north of the border. But soon they will be traveling all over the country, in greater numbers and on all the highways of country.
Here's what my crystal ball says: we're going to have needless accidents because we'll be allowing in sub-standard trucks with drivers who don't follow the same rules as American truckers with respect to logging, limited driving hours and drug use just as speed to stay awake.
Further, my crystal ball is telling me that some of these trucks coming in will be loaded with drugs and illegal aliens, and most of them won't get caught because only a limited number will get inspected. They're already planning a fast lane for some truckers that will just go right go on through, no questions asked.
And finally my crystal ball is predicting that low-wage workers from south of the border will be undercutting American truckers as companies realize they can hire them to do contract work at a much lower cost. Apparently, the H1-B scam which is displacing thousands of native computer programmers to foreigners wasn't enough for Congress, they want to expand this wonderful idea to other areas of the econony.
But, of course, although I don't think so my crystal ball could be all wrong on this, which is why I'm anxious to hear what your crystal ball says.
It certainly didn't create more jobs along the border --there's a lot of trade but no jobs. NAFTA sent thousands of jobs from El Paso to Mexico, now most of the other jobs have left, unemployment and welfare are higher than ever and there doesn't seem to be much hope for jobs to move in. There are jobs at Walmart and the Dollar stores because Mexicans making $3 a day come to shop but can't afford much more than that.
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