Last Tuesday over at the House of Representatives a decision was made to close the United States border to dangerous trucks coming in from Mexico. The Congress members voted 395-18 and in doing so ignored the threat of another promised George Bush veto.

The bill, being sponsored by Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, also prohibits the transportation secretary from granting authority to any Mexican trucks beyond the commercial zone, unless specifically authorized by Congress.

Though the House has spoken; the anti-worker Bush Administration stressed, again, that the United States is obligated under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement to open US roads to Mexican truckers and warns that terminating the year-old demonstration project would have repercussions for American trucks allowed into Mexico. Oh really?

The Teamsters Union, trucking industry professional and organizations; consumer and environmental groups around the United States - all of them are in total opposition of the program.

Many of you might recall that Congress passed a law last year that cut off funds for opening the border. The Bush Administration, specifically Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, claimed the law was ambiguous and kept the borders open; in other words, she broke the law. 

The Teamsters Union -and allies of the union- challenged the Bush administration in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The union is awaiting the Court's decision.

In a statement released shortly after the House vote on Tuesday, Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said, "This bill makes it very clear that Congress wants the border closed. This time, the Bush administration can't pretend what Congress means.

"We know the Bush administration can't guarantee that trucks and drivers from Mexico are safe," Hoffa said.  "We know there aren't any certified drug testing labs in Mexico. We know the database for Mexican driver traffic violations is inadequate. We know Mexico doesn't enforce hours-of-service violations."

Despite the bipartisan opposition to opening the border to dangerous trucks from Mexico, the Transportation Department said it will extend the program for another two years.  

The Transportation Department has shown it is incapable of reviewing the safety records of Mexican carriers that want to participate in the pilot program. The agency approved Trinity Enterprises as a participant, though its own database indicated the company had more than 1,200 safety violations, or about 100 per truck.

I have been watching and opposing the Mexican Trucking Pilot Program for a while now. One thing that I find so simple and yet critical to realize is this: Mexican trucks are not required to have anti-lock brakes, and the 11-hour driving day is not at all regulated. I said this before in other posts, but, can you imagine having to drive next to a Mexican worker who was on hour-19 on his trip; and it just so happens to be slippery road conditions out there?

My advice: Pull over or get as far away as possible from the sweatshop on wheels.