[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4694]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE TRUCKS ARE COMING, THE TRUCKS ARE COMING

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, the next sound you hear will be the rumble of 
thousands of Mexican trucks streaming across our southern border. The 
U.S. Government has agreed to allow 100 Mexican trucking companies to 
send trucks on the highways and byways of America. Presently, Mexican 
trucks may only go 20 miles inside the U.S. border. The U.S. Government 
says they will inspect the trucks for safety and inspect the drivers as 
well--Yeah, right. There are already 6,000 trucks a day crossing in 
each direction just between Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; 
and only a fraction of these are inspected.
  This country has no way of inspecting each and every Mexican truck 
for safety, and there is no telling what could be in them, whether it 
is legitimate cargo, narcotics or contaminated food. Not to mention, 
Mexican trucks are not up to the standards of the U.S. trucking 
industry. Overweight, polluting Mexican trucks driven by low paid, 
unqualified drivers that may not even be able to read highway signs, is 
a dangerous policy for the citizens of this country.
  Once again, our government seems to be more concerned about Mexico 
than it is about our Nation, our highways or our people.
  And that's just the way it is.

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