Congress Clears Way for Mexican Truck Access, Transit Funding

Congress approved legislation Tuesday to allow Mexican trucks wider access to U.S. roads and to fund major transportation programs, including $1.25 billion for tighter aviation security measures in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Senate voted, 97 to 2, to approve the $60-billion transportation appropriation measure for fiscal 2002, which began Oct. 1. The House approved the spending bill, 371 to 11, last week after congressional negotiators reached a compromise with the White House on the thorny Mexican truck issue.

President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which he had threatened to veto earlier this year after both houses of Congress passed separate legislation at odds with White House priorities on Mexican long-haul trucking.

The transportation legislation clears the way for Mexican truckers to expand their access to all U.S. roads after numerous safety, inspection and licensing checks are met.

They include license verification of Mexican truck drivers, on-site inspections of Mexican trucks and audits of trucking firms to ensure compliance with U.S. safety laws.

Mexican trucking differences held up approval of the transportation spending measure for several months while the White House and Congress wrangled over the scope of safety criteria. The final provision on Mexican trucks is tougher than what the White House wanted initially.

In the end, the final bill on Mexico trucks reflected tough criteria laid out by the Senate rather than safety proposals initially preferred by the White House.

The transportation spending measure provides $140 million for improving facilities and operations linked to opening the border to greater Mexican truck access. Those vehicles are currently limited to a narrow commercial zone in border states where they load their goods onto American trucks.

Although Mexico hoped to begin moving long-haul trucks across the border next month, most policymakers in the United States believe the safety standards will take at least several months to satisfy.

In Mexico City, Economy Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez welcomed the action by Congress and said U.S. trucks will receive the same treatment on Mexican highways that Mexican trucks get on U.S. roads.

“What counts now are the rules, and that’s what we’re working on,” Derbez told reporters. “Whatever they require, we will require as well.”

Wider access for Mexican trucks was a key provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Clinton administration blocked the trucking provision for years because of safety concerns and opposition from labor groups.

The spending bill also provides $1.25 billion for the new Transportation Department agency that will, among other things, oversee aviation security. The money will go to help fund the establishment of a government-run passenger and baggage screening operation at U.S. airports over the next year, staffed for the first time by federal workers.

Congress took that responsibility away from the airlines last month after the Sept. 11 attacks, in which hijacked U.S. airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon prompted a top-to-bottom review of air travel security.

Within the $13.5-billion Federal Aviation Administration budget covered under the bill, Congress funded $292 million for other air security priorities, including bomb detection initiatives.

Total highway spending in the 2002 spending bill is $32.9 billion, which is roughly 4% more than last year. The legislation provides $6.7 billion for mass transit spending and $521 million for Amtrak.

The Coast Guard will receive $5 billion, a 9% increase over last year.

For the first time in several years, there was no language in the bill prohibiting research for new auto fuel efficiency standards.