Senate Appropriations Committee Votes to Require U.S. Inspections Of Motor Carriers From Mexico Before Crossing NAFTA Borders

    WASHINGTON, July 12 Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
commends the Senate Appropriations Committee and its transportation leaders,
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), for approving a U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) spending bill today that goes a long way
toward moving the highway safety agenda forward.  The Senate legislation
responds to the concerns of the safety community about opening the NAFTA
borders to trucks and buses from Mexico before basic safeguards are in place.
    Jackie Gillan, Vice President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety,
released the following statement in response to the Senate Appropriations
Committee action today:

    "Current preparations for evaluating the safety records and prospective
safety performance of motor carriers from Mexico are woefully inadequate.  The
Transportation bill approved today by the Senate Appropriations Committee
addresses these concerns by providing additional funding for border
inspectors, requiring DOT to conduct on-site safety audits of motor carriers
from Mexico prior to granting them operating authority in the United States,
and requiring the DOT Inspector General to certify that fundamental and
necessary actions have been taken to ensure that U.S. safety standards are
met.
    "This spending bill is a common sense approach to requiring that certain
safety measures are in place before the U.S. fully opens its borders.
Americans everywhere must be assured that our government is taking the
necessary steps to determine whether any of these truck and bus companies from
Mexico is unfit for high-speed, long-range operations before they take to our
roads.  The safety of the American people deserves no less.
    "Today's committee action is a huge step forward for safety.  Now it is up
to the full Senate and House of Representatives to adopt these measures so
that our government can begin its safety work at our borders.  This issue is
not about fair trade.  It's about safe travel."