Political Quotes

“I rise tonight to recognize two often- overlooked groups of people who have been innocent casualties of NAFTA, American and Mexican truck drivers. While I have repeated time and time again that American truckers will be forced to compete with their unregulated and underpaid counterparts south of the border, Mexican truck drivers are often overlooked casualties. But the truth is that NAFTA and its evil minions have forced Mexican truck drivers to work 1, 2 and even 3 days straight to get their goods to the U.S.-Mexican border. The Mexican Government is one of the accomplices. Even though Canacar, the Mexican trucking association, has asked for 5 more years before the border is opened to unlimited truck hauling, the Mexican Government continually demands that the border be open immediately. Canacar admits that the Mexican truck fleet is old and in general disrepair, and neither the fleet nor its crews are safely ready to compete with newer American trucks and its rested drivers. So why does the Mexican Government continue to push for the cross- border opening? Because the Mexican Government does not seem to care much about its own citizens. Right now, the Mexican economic system forces truck operators to drive days on end, and, as reported in a story by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, most of these drivers are often fueled by narcotics. Mexican truck drivers freely admit that they would prepare for long hauls with beer, marijuana, pills, and cocaine.…”