[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 12, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H9872-H9875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTERIM CONTINUATION OF ADMINISTRATION OF MOTOR CARRIER FUNCTIONS BY 
                   THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 3036) to provide for interim continuation of administration of 
motor carrier functions by the Federal Highway Administration, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3036

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.

       Section 338 of the Department of Transportation and Related 
     Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 is amended by striking 
     ``521(b)(5)'' and inserting ``chapters 5 and 315''.

     SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This Act (including the amendment made by this Act) shall 
     take effect on October 9, 1999.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri).
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act for 
budget year 2000, which was signed by our President on Saturday, 
contains a provision that is clearly authorizing in nature, prohibiting 
the Federal Highway Administration from carrying out the Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Program. The intent of this provision is to force a 
transfer of the Office of Motor Carriers out of the Federal Highway 
Administration.
  The provision, however, has a serious unintended effect. It did not 
transfer all the legal authorities required to enforce Federal truck 
safety regulations. And so, in effect, it left some of these 
authorities stranded within the Federal Highway Administration and 
prevented them from being carried out by any entity within the 
Department of Transportation.
  Last Thursday, the Subcommittee on Ground Transportation of the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on this 
provision to hear from the Department of Transportation on how this 
provision would be implemented and how it will impact the ability of 
the Department of Transportation to ensure our Nation's highways are 
safe.
  The Department's general counsel described how the Department of 
Transportation will be hampered in its truck safety enforcement 
efforts. For example, the Department will no longer be able to work 
with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Inspector General's Office, or the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Department will no longer be able 
to assess fines for safety violations.
  Clearly, the appropriations act provision has the effect of reducing 
highway safety by denying important enforcement tools to the 
Department. Improving motor carrier safety has been a major priority of 
this Congress and of this committee. Last year, the House Committee on 
Appropriations made an effort to strip the Federal Highway 
Administration of its motor carrier safety authority and move it to 
another area.
  As the authorizing committee with jurisdiction over motor carrier 
safety, we oppose this since it had never been considered by the 
committees of the House or Senate with authorizing authority.
  Ultimately, the provision was dropped and we pledged that we would 
look very carefully at the issue of motor carrier safety, and we have 
done so. We held a series of comprehensive hearings and have produced 
what we feel is a solid bipartisan bill, H.R. 2679, that will be 
considered by the House probably later this week.
  H.R. 2679 creates a new agency, the National Motor Carrier 
Administration, to oversee all Federal truck safety efforts and include 
important safety reforms. The bill we are considering today does not 
overturn the appropriations act provision in any way. It simply fixes 
its unintended consequences. The bill amends the appropriations act to 
ensure that all the enforcement powers are restored to the Secretary 
for budget year 2000.
  The bill restores all safety enforcement powers to the Department, 
where they will be administered by the Office of the Secretary so that 
safety is not

[[Page H9873]]

reduced while Congress considers comprehensive motor carrier safety 
legislation.
  I urge my colleagues to vote for H.R. 3036.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Sabo) the distinguished and very capable ranking 
minority member of the Subcommittee on Transportation of the Committee 
on Appropriations.
  (Mr. SABO asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SABO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rahall) for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3036 and urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the compromise language on H.R. 3036 
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  This language addresses the problem at hand; that is, ensuring that 
the Department of Transportation continues to have the ability to 
assess civil penalties for violations of motor carrier safety 
regulations. This provision corrects a technical flaw in the wording of 
the FY 2000 Department of Transportation Appropriations bill that was 
signed into law on Saturday.
  Mr. Speaker, with this provision and the actions recently taken by 
the Secretary to move the Office of Motor Carriers out of the Federal 
Highway Administration, the Department can begin immediately the 
important work of improving truck safety and enforcing truck safety 
laws with a stronger hand.
  I urge the adoption of H.R. 3036.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Chairman Shuster) and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), the 
subcommittee chairman, and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), 
the full committee ranking member, for the excellent work they have 
done in bringing this legislation before us today.
  The fact of the matter is that today, on this very day, because of a 
legislative rider tacked onto the transportation appropriations act 
signed into law on Saturday by the President, the Federal Government 
now has no authority to enforce Federal truck safety regulations, none, 
no authority to enforce Federal truck safety regulations for whatever 
infraction except imminent hazard situations, this authority is totally 
lacking.
  This is because the Republican leadership rushed that bill through 
Congress in a roughshod and cavalier fashion. They did it so fast, 
tucking this legislative rider and authorization really on an 
appropriations measure, that apparently it did not occur to the 
Republican leadership that this rider prohibits the Secretary of 
Transportation from assessing fines against a trucking company for 
safety violations.
  Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but the Department cannot seek civil 
injunctions against truckers who violate Federal safety regulations. 
And to make matters even worse, the Department cannot even provide 
support to the U.S. Attorney for criminal prosecutions or lend support 
in FBI investigations.
  Imagine that, just imagine that if a roadside inspection or as a 
result of a compliance review conducted by Federal officials, a trucker 
is found to be in violation of safety standards, a threat to human life 
and safety, as a result of that legislative rider on the appropriations 
bill, no penalties can be assessed.
  Oh, yeah, a slap on the wrist perhaps, an admonishment to not do it 
again or to slow down, but that is pretty much it. It is pretty much 
like taking away from the police the ability to write tickets for 
speeding and other driving infractions. Getting pulled over, grant you, 
may be an inconvenience, but will speeding and aggressive driving be 
controlled if traffic tickets could not be issued? I think not. 
Certainly not.
  Today, then, all Americans should be aware that the trucking industry 
is operating with impunity from the Federal Motor Carrier safety 
regulations. It is really the Wild West all over again, but at this 
time it is taking place on our Nation's highways and byways.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a sad commentary on what happens when bills are 
rushed to the floor in a hasty manner and when legislative riders are 
struck on appropriation measures in the middle of the night. There was 
simply no need for these shenanigans.
  The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has reported 
comprehensive motor carrier legislation, and we are prepared to bring 
it to the House floor tonight. We recognize the pressing needs to 
improve truck safety, and we are taking action to do so. This is the 
proper way to proceed, not with these ill-conceived and ill-advised 
riders to appropriations bills. Because of that, today America is 
suffering. And it is suffering from a lack of proper truck safety 
regulation because of arrogance and misuse of the legislative process.
  The pending measure will correct this mistake. It simply restores the 
Federal Government's ability and authority to levy civil penalties for 
violations of truck safety regulations. This authority could be used by 
the newly established Office of Motor Carrier Safety established by the 
Secretary of Transportation on Saturday after the President signed the 
bill into law.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wolf) the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations 
Subcommittee on Transportation.
  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, H.R. 3036, as amended. It 
provides the authority to the Secretary of Transportation to assess 
civil penalties against violators of truck safety and to ensure that 
truck safety receives the scrutiny it deserves.
  As the House knows, this will make a big difference in the 5,300 
annual fatalities that has remained unchanged for several years. The 
number of annual fatalities equates to a major aviation accident every 
2 weeks. A reform of the Office of Motor Carriers to improve truck 
safety is long overdue.
  I want to personally thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), the gentleman from West 
Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) 
for this language. I think it is very good. It is very, very 
responsible.
  My sense is that because of the effort that the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure has done, it will actually end up 
working together to save lives. And so for the gentleman from Wisconsin 
(Mr. Petri) who is handling that, I want to thank him.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar), the distinguished ranking 
member of the full committee.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3036, as amended, to restore 
the enforcement authority and civil penalty authority to the proper 
office within the Department of Transportation.
  I want to thank the chairman of our committee, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Ground Transportation, the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri), and 
our ranking Democratic member the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Rahall) for responding so promptly and so effectively to the obvious 
urgency presented in the offending language in the fiscal year 2000 DOD 
appropriations conference report.

                              {time}  1915

  I want to take a moment to commend the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Wolf), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation of the 
Committee on Appropriations. He has at heart a genuine concern for 
safety and has moved the debate in the right direction. I appreciate 
his initiative. Unfortunately, the initiative crafted, perhaps in 
haste, without full appreciation, misses the mark. It is not the 
gentleman's intention to derogate safety, but it was the result of this 
section 338 in the conference report.
  When the appropriations bill was signed into law last Saturday, the 
provision required an immediate reorganization of the motor carrier 
safety function within the Federal Highway Administration and within 
the Department of Transportation. To Secretary

[[Page H9874]]

Slater's great credit, he did not wait a moment. The very day that the 
President signed the bill into law, Secretary Slater directed the 
reorganization to be done, immediately, over the weekend. But he went 
only as far as the appropriations bill allowed him to go. And because 
our committee has greater legislative history and experience with this 
law, we understood that there was a shortcoming. In fact, we held a 
hearing on the matter just to be precise about our concerns, that 
without further changes the reorganization would effectively handcuff 
and leg-shackle the motor carrier enforcement efforts of the Department 
of Transportation.
  Almost immediately upon passage of the conference report, the 
Department of Transportation and others expressed serious concerns, our 
members and professional staff expressed serious concerns, and on the 
7th of October, the Subcommittee on Ground Transportation of our 
committee held a hearing to explore those concerns publicly. I asked 
the Department of Transportation's general counsel, Nancy McFadden, at 
that hearing whether the Department would be able to assess fines or 
seek injunctive relief against a motor carrier that DOT had found in 
violation of motor carrier laws. She said no. She said further that DOT 
employees would not be allowed to work with a U.S. attorney in pursuing 
civil or criminal enforcement in court, that the Department would not 
be able to force a carrier to comply with Federal law or regulation. 
But she also said that those shortcomings, very serious ones, could 
easily be corrected, and that is why we are here today.
  Now, the reason we are here is that section 338 of the transportation 
appropriations bill prohibits the Federal Highway Administration from 
spending money to carry out motor carrier safety programs. Once that 
provision took effect, no one in the new entity would have authority to 
initiate new civil penalty cases or continue existing civil penalty 
cases. Why? Very simply, the reason for the anomaly is that the law 
vests civil penalty authority only in the Federal Highway 
Administration and in the administrator. The administrator may delegate 
that civil penalty authority to an office within the Federal Highway 
Administration but not to an office outside the Federal Highway 
Administration. That is the key element that we have to correct and 
which we do correct here with this legislation, that the administrator 
cannot delegate the authority for civil penalties enforcement or 
cooperation with the Department of Justice and, therefore, without this 
language, we would have had standing in law the Motor Carrier Evasion 
Relief Act of 1999 in which motor carriers simply violate the law, 
cannot be pursued, cannot be penalized and safety cannot be enforced. 
With the language we bring to the House floor today, we correct that 
problem. And, happily, we will also be able to bring to the House floor 
our much more far reaching bill that elevates motor carrier safety to a 
new level in the National Motor Carrier Administration, in which we 
direct this new administration to consider the assignment and 
maintenance of safety as its highest priority.
  We do it right. We provide the authority, we provide the civil 
penalty powers, we provide cooperation with the Justice Department, we 
provide funding for training and for enforcement authorities, we have a 
far reaching, comprehensive bill that does the right thing in the right 
way. I understand from the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) 
that we will be able to bring this bill to the House floor on Thursday. 
I urge everyone to support that bill as well as to support the pending 
legislation.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, in summary the bill restores all 
safety enforcement powers to the Department where they will be 
administered by the Office of the Secretary for fiscal year 2000 only, 
so that safety is not reduced while Congress considers comprehensive 
motor carrier safety legislation.
  I would just like to read, if I could briefly, from a letter from our 
United States Secretary of Transportation, Rodney Slater, that is dated 
today:
  ``I am writing to urge Congress to act quickly on legislation to 
restore enforcement authorities underlying our motor carrier safety 
programs that were suspended October 9 as a result of enactment of H.R. 
2084, the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act.
  ``The need to act is clear. We currently have 922 cases pending, 
involving a total of $6 million in outstanding civil claims. Our work 
with the Department's Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney's office 
is in abeyance, and the exercise of some other authorities is now 
subject to question.''
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the copy of his full letter for the Record. 
This is in response to a clear need outlined by the Secretary of 
Transportation. I urge speedy passage of this legislation.


                              The Secretary of Transportation,

                                 Washington, DC, October 12, 1999.
     Hon. Bud Shuster,
      Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
         U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to urge Congress to act 
     quickly on legislation to restore enforcement authorities 
     underlying our motor carrier safety programs that were 
     suspended October 9th as a result of enactment of H.R. 2084, 
     the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies 
     Appropriations Act, 2000.
       The need to act is clear. We currently have 922 cases 
     pending, involving a total of $5,985,000 in outstanding civil 
     penalty claims. Our work with the Department's Inspector 
     General and the U.S. Attorney's office is in abeyance, and 
     the exercise of some other authorities is now subject to 
     question.
       The need to act expeditiously on permanent legislation that 
     increases the resources and regulatory and enforcement tools 
     of the motor carrier office is also clear. Congress and the 
     Administration, through the work of the Department's 
     Inspector General, Mr. Norman Y. Mineta, and committee 
     hearings and our own analysis, have identified the need to 
     increase the effectiveness of motor carrier programs.
       Both your Committee and the Senate Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation have reported or will shortly 
     report legislation to address the breadth of motor carrier 
     safety issues. In July, the Administration submitted 
     comprehensive legislation as well. Many provisions in the 
     three bills can be combined now to give us truly effective 
     motor carrier legislation. The safety gains in these 
     proposals should be paramount, as reflected in the principle 
     of H.R. 2679 that safety be the foremost consideration of the 
     motor carrier group, and organizational considerations should 
     not supplant progress on the safety front. Therefore, I will 
     work with Congress to resolve these organizational issues--in 
     a way that ensures successful implementation of our mutual 
     safety goals.
       In May, I announced a comprehensive program to address 
     motor carrier safety, setting a goal of a 50 percent 
     reduction in fatalities from motor carrier-related crashes 
     over the next ten years. The Department has redoubled its 
     efforts over the past year, implementing a series of actions 
     to strengthen our program. We developed a draft Safety Action 
     Plan with approximately 65 specific safety initiatives to be 
     completed in the next three years.
       To date, we have doubled the number of compliance reviews 
     accomplished by safety investigators each month. Comparing 
     the periods January to April 1999 and May to August 1999, 
     total compliance reviews increased 59 percent. Financial 
     penalties have increased from an average of $1,600 to $3,200 
     per enforcement case. The backlog of enforcement cases has 
     been reduced by two-thirds, from 1,174 to 363. The number of 
     Federal investigators at the U.S. Mexico border has increased 
     from 13 to 40--a 200-percent increase.
       I urge action by Congress as rapidly as possible on the two 
     bills, both of which are essential to strengthening our motor 
     carrier safety programs.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Rodney E. Slater.

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in to address H.R. 3036 
and truck safety. This bill suspends language in the Transportation 
Appropriations bill and restores responsibility for all truck safety 
activities to the Secretary of Transportation. This action comes due to 
nearly 5,000 people being killed in truck related accidents in each of 
the past three years on our nation's highways. There are many agencies 
within our government that have a shared responsibility for safety on 
our nation's highways, including the Transportation Department, the 
NTSB and the Federal Highway Administration. But despite much talk and 
discussion, several hearings, and meetings over improving trucking 
safety we have had little action aimed at improving safety.
  What we do have is accident after accident involving truck drivers 
who are too tired and even drunk. A total of 5,374 people died in 
accidents involving large trucks which represents 13 percent of all the 
traffic fatalities in 1998 and in addition 127,000 were injured in 
those crashes.
  In Houston, Texas, a man (Kurt Groten) 38 years old and his three 
children David, 5, Madeline, 3, and Adam, 1, were killed in a horrific 
accident when a 18-wheel truck crashed into their vehicle. His wife, 
the only survivor of the crash, testified in criminal proceedings 
against the driver last week stating ``I

[[Page H9875]]

saw that there was a whole 18-wheeler on top of our car. * * * I 
remember standing there and screaming, `My life is over! All of my 
children are dead!' ''
  Martinez was convicted on last Friday and the jury now must decide if 
he gets probation or up to 20 years in prison for each of the four 
counts of intoxication manslaughter.
  This is but one example of the thousands of terrible and fatal 
trucking accidents that are caused every year on our nation's roads and 
highways.
  We need an agency within the government to ensure that the rules are 
adhered to and those safety technologies like recording devices are 
implemented into the system. I want to ensure, like many Members, that 
there are no more Mrs. Groten's in America.
  Truckers are required to maintain logbooks for their hours of 
service. But truckers have routinely falsified records, and many 
industry observers say, to the point that they are often referred to as 
``comic books.'' In their 1995 findings the National Transportation 
Safety Board found driver fatigue and lack of sleep were factors in up 
to 30 percent of truck crashes that resulted in fatalities. In 1992 
report the NTSB reported that an astonishing 19 percent of truck 
drivers surveyed said they had fallen asleep at the wheel while 
driving. Recorders on trucks can provide a tamperproof mechanism that 
can be used for accident investigation and to enforce the hours-of-
service regulations, rather that relying on the driver's handwritten 
logs.
  Mr. Speaker, I know that the trucking industry is concerned by the 
added cost of the recorders. I also appreciate the fact that close to 
eighty percent of this country's goods move by truck and that the 
industry has a major impact on our economy. But can we afford to put 
our wallets before safety? Ask yourselves where we would be without 
recorders in commercial aviation, rail, or the marine industry? I think 
that I have good idea what the answer is, we would not know what caused 
that accident nor would we be able to learn from our mistakes.
  Mr. Speaker, let us vote today to put action behind our discussion 
and ensure that safety comes first.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PETRI. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Petri) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3036, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to restore 
motor carrier safety enforcement authority to the Department of 
Transportation.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________