[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 16, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999

  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss S. 1501, the 
Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999. During the Commerce 
Committee's Subcommittee on Surface Transportation hearing on this 
bill, I brought the attention of the entire room to a deadly tractor 
trailer accident that occurred in Atlanta in the early morning hours of 
August 31, 1999. Two lives were lost as a result of that accident, but 
if the incident would have occurred at a busier time of day, I shudder 
to think of the fatalities that could have resulted.
  In 1998, 221 people were killed in Georgia as a result of truck 
related crashes, and thousands more were injured. Recently, I met with 
two people who lost their families in truck related accidents. These 
stories are ones which I hope will become less frequent as a result of 
the action we are taking in S. 1501. This bill has the opportunity to 
improve safety for drivers and truckers.
  S. 1501 would make the Office of Motor Carrier a separate office 
within the Department of Transportation (DOT), as opposed to being 
within the Federal Highway Administration as it is now. This action 
will allow Congress to statutorily mandate safety as the main focus of 
the office. Additionally, it promotes enforcement as a main goal and 
provides some teeth to this new agency's punitive actions.
  However, there are some areas within the legislation that I believe 
need attention as we work to form a final bill. For example, I believe 
that a conflict of interest provision should be included. Without such 
a provision, the new agency could continue to award contracts to the 
very industry that operates under the federal motor carrier safety 
regulations the new agency will administer. An unbiased, multifaceted 
panel would be a better option to conduct sensitive research with 
federal money.
  In fact, the DOT's Inspector General (IG) released a report to 
Congress that cites the too close relationship between the industry and 
the regulators who oversee it:

       [A collaborative, educational, partnership-with industry] 
     is a good approach for motor carriers that have safety as a 
     top priority, but it has gone too far. It does not work 
     effectively with firms that persist in violating safety rules 
     and do not promptly take sustained corrective action.

  I believe this finding supports the inclusion of conflict of interest 
standards in the final bill.
  S. 1501 does a great deal to improve motor carrier safety in this 
country, but we can do more. I hope that the conferees on this bill 
will give strong consideration to including a conflict of interest 
provision in the final bill.

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