Teamsters Continue the Fight for Highway Safety

Teamsters Continue the Fight for Highway Safety

Congress Overcomes White House Opposition To Foreign Truck Standard

December 7, 2004

(Washington, D.C.) – In passing a massive spending bill yesterday, Congress also approved a Teamster-supported provision to strengthen safety standards for Mexican and Canadian trucks. The language would prohibit the Bush Administration from allowing Mexican operators to take up to two years to comply with U.S. federal safety and certification and labeling requirements.

“This is a common sense safety issue,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “I think it goes without saying that foreign trucks should meet all our safety standards before they are permitted to travel on our highways. I’m pleased to see that members of Congress in both chambers and from both parties agree.

“I’d also like to commend all the members of Congress who stood up to the White House’s fierce opposition to this important safety measure,” Hoffa continued. “Because our friends in Congress refused to budge, the administration was forced to back off an earlier threat to veto the entire spending bill, which has strong bipartisan support.”

Hoffa praised Representative John Olver (D-MA) for leading the effort on Capitol Hill.

“Yesterday’s victory was only made possible because of John Olver’s months of hard work in building support in both parties for this legislation,” Hoffa said. “I thank John Olver for his steadfast advocacy on this issue, protecting Teamsters and all Americans who travel our nation’s highways.”

Congress has sent the bill to the White House. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation as early as today, approving the safety provision along with the rest of the spending bill.