John Cornyn: “I guess I have to agree with the distinguished Senator from North Dakota that there is no legal issue because, frankly…”

“I guess I have to agree with the distinguished Senator from North Dakota that there is no legal issue because, frankly, the legal issues have all been decided, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and by the NAFTA arbitration panel. So, in effect, the mandate to allow Mexican trucks that meet high safety standards is the law of the land. The question is whether we are going to comply with it in a way that protects the safety of the driving public in America. My amendment makes clear that we should maintain and mandate high standards, and my amendment does that. I would never tolerate an unsafe truck on our American highways, particularly on Texas highways. I don't care whether it comes from Mexico or Canada or from the United States, we should not tolerate unsafe trucks. What my amendment does is it makes sure that those high safety standards are enforced and maintained. I have to ask: How does it look if we are going to hold trucks coming from Mexico to a different standard than we are with trucks coming from Canada? The suggestion is that because trucks are coming from Mexico, they are somehow incapable of meeting these high safety standards. I can tell my colleagues, as somebody who comes from a border State with 1,600 miles of common border with Mexico, there are challenges along the border, but legal trade and legal commerce are important to the people in Texas, and they are important to the people of the United States.”