Senate Panel Heeds Teamster Demand To Keep Border Closed To Mexican Trucks

    Senate Committee Vote Is Important Step in Fight to Secure America's
                                  Highways

    WASHINGTON, March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters scored a
significant victory today in the fight to stop President Bush's reckless
plan to open the United States' border to unsafe Mexican trucks, with a key
Senate committee voting to block the pilot project.
    "The 1.4 million members of the Teamsters Union were heard loud and
clear on Capitol Hill today," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.
"This is an important first step in our fight to keep America's highways
safe and secure."
    The Senate Appropriations Committee blocked funding for the dangerous
pilot program by passing an amendment requiring the Transportation
Department to publish details of the plan and to provide time for public
comment. The committee also voted to require that the pilot project meet
congressionally mandated safety and security standards.
    The Bush administration is trying to circumvent those safety
requirements by repackaging the plan as a pilot project, allowing 100
Mexican trucking firms open access to U.S. highways, putting American
drivers at risk.
    The amendment was sponsored by Democratic Sens. Byron Dorgan of North
Dakota, Dianne Feinstein of California and Patty Murray of Washington.
    "The Teamsters Union has successfully led the battle to keep our border
closed for the past 12 years, and we will not let up in our fight as this
measure moves through Congress," Hoffa said. "I want to thank our allies on
Capitol Hill for standing strong for highway safety."
    Hearings in both the Senate and House have revealed that too many
questions remain about how the Bush administration's dangerous experiment
will be carried out, the Transportation Department's ability to inspect
trucks and the Mexican government's ability to meet U.S. standards for
regulating hours of service, driver training and licensing.
    Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is the
nation's largest transportation union, representing 1.4 million hardworking
women and men throughout the United States and Canada.