Political Quotes

“I am under no illusion that I can change the mind of my good friend from North Dakota, but maybe I can ease his concerns, at least in several areas, because he did raise some things that I think should be noted. Prior to 1982, Mexican trucks did operate throughout the United States without restriction. Since then, Canadian trucks have continued to operate through the United States. Surprisingly, even some of the Mexican carriers who were authorized to operate beyond the commercial zones in 1982 have continued to operate in the United States. As best we can tell, they have as good a safety record as the U.S. drivers. But, obviously, there are lots of arguments in terms of efficiency, in terms of commitments made under the North American Free Trade Agreement for carrying this out. But I want to focus just a minute on a couple of items of concern about meeting safety standards. Mexican trucking companies, drivers, and vehicles participating in the demonstration program have to abide by stricter safety standards than U.S. and Canadian trucking companies, drivers, and vehicles operating in the United States. These safety standards include they have to have a U.S.-based insurance policy, full compliance with hours of service regulations, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, including the ability to communicate in English, and drug and alcohol testing. Every carrier satisfactorily completing the test has to have its drivers drug tested by U.S. labs.”