David Obey: “I simply want to rise to express my opposition to this rule because of its failure to include the right of the gentleman…”

“I simply want to rise to express my opposition to this rule because of its failure to include the right of the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Sabo) to offer his amendment on truck safety. Very simply, what his amendment seeks to do is to require the establishment of procedures to guarantee that Mexican trucks will be safe before they are allowed to travel all over the United States. It just seems to me that we ought to understand that right now Mexican motor carriers operate with virtually no safety oversight to date. There are no motor carrier hours of service regulations in Mexico. There is no way at this point to check the driving records, the driving history of Mexican motor carrier drivers. The out-of-service record for those trucks in the areas where they have been checked near the border is astronomical. Those trucks should not be on the road without severe safety precautions. It is asserted that somehow the Sabo amendment would be a violation of NAFTA. That is nonsense. NAFTA is a trade pact. It is not a suicide pact. We are not required to put the safety of our motorists at risk in order to satisfy some international bureaucracy. We have already had a ruling that makes quite clear that the United States has the authority, whatever authority we need to exercise, in order to protect the safety of American travelers.”