[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S7329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 THE HIGHWAY WATCH' PROGRAM

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise today to offer my strong support 
for the Highway Watch' program.
  Highway Watch' is a national program to enhance the 
security and overall preparedness on our Nation's highways through 
training highway professionals to be the ``eyes and ears'' of our 
highways. The Highway Watch' program, managed by the 
American Trucking Associations, recruits and trains professional truck 
drivers to identify and report security and safety situations on our 
Nation's roads.
  Highway Watch' has enrolled more than 330,000 highway 
professionals and expects to enroll more than 1,000,000 by March, 2007. 
In my State of Georgia, the training is mandatory for the more than 
300,000 commercial drivers licensed in Georgia. To date, the State of 
Georgia has enrolled more than 18,000 participants.
  I share with you two of the successes of the program. An instructor 
at a Michigan truck-driving school grew suspicious when ten students 
showed up to verify their safety and driving skills. The individuals 
had little knowledge about driving a commercial vehicle and could not 
verify their commercial driver's licenses. It turned out that the 
individuals were illegal immigrants and some were on a terrorist watch 
list.
  In another example, Highway Watch' members reported a man 
photographing and videotaping fuel tanker trucks and asking questions. 
Forty-eight hours after a ``Be On the Look Out'' (BOLO) notice was 
issued by Highway Watch', the man was in custody.
  This program has fostered a good working relationship between the 
public and private sector, and is a model for how corporations can 
teach vigilance to their employees. I encourage the Department of 
Homeland Security to place the requisite monies for this important 
program in the Department of Homeland Security annual budget, and 
encourage the appropriators to continue their commitment to the 
program.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues and ask for continued 
support of the Highway Watch' program to help ensure that 
our Nation's highways are safe and secure.

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