Hoffa says Bush imperiling nation

President Bush has “sucker punched” American workers and threatened national security by opening the nation’s southern border to Mexican truckers, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said at a conference in Houston.

He said the Bush administration’s pilot program, which took effect Thursday, showed a lack of concern for domestic security.

The Transportation Department granted permission Thursday to Transportes Olympic, based in a suburb of Monterrey, Mexico, to haul cargo anywhere in the United States as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In turn, Mexico granted authority to Stagecoach Cartage & Distribution Inc. of El Paso to travel anywhere in Mexico. Hoffa said he would go to Congress to try to get the program halted.