DORGAN QUESTIONS TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY ABOUT IGNORING MEXICAN TRUCK LAW
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, DC) – At a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) demanded answers from Transportation Secretary Mary Peters about the continuation of a program to allow unsafe Mexican trucks to operate in the United States when Congress has clearly told them to stop funding the program.
“Congress was very clear in our intent to end this program by stopping the funding. Even the opponents of the law agree with that. But the Secretary of Transportation has found lawyers who will help her misinterpret the intention of Congress and continue this program,” Dorgan said. “The Administration can’t pick and choose which laws they want to follow. It’s that simple.”
Dorgan included a provision in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008, which became law at the end of 2007 and clearly says that no funds should be used for the Mexican truck program.
Dorgan, along with a bi-partisan group of Senators and House members, sent a letter Monday to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking for an investigation into whether the Department of Transportation has violated the Antideficiency Act for funding the Mexican truck pilot program. Should a federal agency spend money on something specifically prohibited by existing law, it is in violation of the Antideficiency Act and subject to both civil and criminal penalties.
Even those Senators in favor of the program knew that the provision would end the program. A proponent of the program, Senator John McCain, said upon passing the legislation, “Unfortunately, the Senate has voted 74 to 24 to prevent the pilot from going forward.”
The Department of Transportation has certified only a handful of truck carriers to participate in the program. One company of that small group had over 100 safety violations per truck per year. Trinity Industries of Mexico dropped out of the program when this information became public.
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