Unions back bill trying to stop Mexican trucks in U.S.

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/6279156.html

By ANABELLE GARAY
Associated Press
Feb. 24, 2009, 5:44PM

DALLAS — Union officials were confident Tuesday that new legislation in Congress would halt Mexican trucks from making long-haul trips into the United States.

A $410 billion spending bill House Democrats presented on Monday includes language that would prevent Mexican-licensed trucks from traveling beyond commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border. The wording is aimed at ending a pilot program backed by the George W. Bush administration that permitted up to 500 U.S.-certified trucks access deep into the U.S.

“This is a really big win for us,” said Leslie Miller, an International Brotherhood of Teamsters spokeswoman. “Historically, there has been very, very strong support” for ending the Mexican truck program.

The legislation was expected to clear the House this week, and the Senate could take it up next week.

Lawmakers — including then-Sen. Barack Obama — previously attempted to stop the program by prohibiting spending to establish it. But the Bush administration contended the funding ban didn’t apply to implementation of a program that had already started.

The Teamsters Union, Sierra Club and Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in 2007 seeking to block the program.

FULL story at link.