Mexican Trucks Allowed Into U.S. Despite New Law to Stop Them

Mexican Trucks Allowed Into U.S. Despite New Law to Stop Them

www.azcentral.com

The Bush administration is going ahead with a controversial pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways despite a new law by Congress against it.

The decision to proceed with the four-month-old program, which allows participating Mexican trucking companies to send loads throughout the United States, comes despite language in the recently signed catchall spending bill aimed at blocking it.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Again, here is the Bush administration just doing whatever it wants to, it just doesn't matter what Congress says, what laws might say, or what ANYBODY might say, they are just going to do WHATEVER they feel like doing!

Bush even signed this into law!

The provision, as signed by President Bush last month, says: "None of the funds made available under this act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico."

So, now he's breaking the laws that HE has signed!

Is there no stopping Bush and his administration?

www.azcentral.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 7/1/08 by Keyhole]

It's a valid loophole. The Act denies a specific source of funding to establish such a program. If it were already established, the Act doesn't apply.

They need to fix the loophole, definitely. But technically no laws have been broken.

True, I guess there is a loophole!

But this is the DOT (or the Bush administration) going directly against what the Congress wanted, they passed this law to STOP all Mexican truckers from just being able to drive all over our country.

Mexican Truckers Allowed into US ...

Congressional opponents of the programs insist that it's clear what lawmakers were trying to do last year when both House and Senate voted against allowing the program to go forward.

--- SNIP ---

"They know what the law says," retorted Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who won a 74-24 vote to block the program. "And they're not above the law." Dorgan warned they better follow the law.

But the DOT has this to say:

But the Department of Transportation is taking advantage of a loophole in the new law, which prohibits the government from spending any money to "ESTABLISH" the program. The government says the new rules don't apply to the current program since it was started in September.

"The U.S. Department of Transportation will not establish any new demonstration programs with Mexico," said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokeswoman Melissa Mazzella DeLaney. "The current cross-border trucking demonstration project - established in September - will continue to operate in a manner that puts safety first."

I guess if they would have dropped the word "ESTABLISH" this problem may not have come up!

It is obvious what Congress intended when this law was passed.

I guess they just really need to amend the law now and fix this loophole, but what are the odds of Bush signing it?

Loophole or no loophole, it just astonishes me how much the Bush administration defies, or at least tries to defy, Congress!

[edit on 8/1/08 by Keyhole]

Also consider that the loophole could easily have been intentional.

This is Washington we're talking about here...

True, some in Congress may have intentionally left the loophole there and Sen. Byron Dorgan may not have realized this. The loophole may have been left to actually see how the program wiil do.

Who really knows WHAT they are really trying to do in Washington?