Washington, D.C. – In a House vote yesterday evening, Third District Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) voted in favor of H.R. 6630, legislation to prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from authorizing Mexican motor carriers to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border, unless expressly authorized by Congress. H.R. 6630 passed the House by a vote of 395 to 18 and now moves to the Senate.

On August 4, 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that its “Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project” would be extended for two years. If it becomes law, H.R. 6630 would require the DOT to halt this program. The “Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project” – which began as a year-long pilot program in September 2007 and was set to expire September 6th – allows thousands of Mexican commercial trucks to have unlimited access to U.S. highways more than 25 miles across the border. Congress tried to halt the program by denying it funding in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act, passed on December 26, 2007. However, the Department of Transportation’s announcement last month signaled its intention to move forward with the program, using the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as justification.

"Given America’s concerns with the entry of illegal drugs, terrorists and illegal immigrants across our weakly defended borders, it is incomprehensible that Mexican trucks would continue to be allowed unfettered access to our country. Congress has voiced its overwhelming opposition to this ‘Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project,’ and I am hopeful that H.R. 6630 will soon become law,” Congressman Jones said. “For the sake of our national and economic security and for the safety of our citizens, this programs needs to be stopped now, not continued!”

Congressman Jones first voiced his opposition to the “Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project” when the DOT announced details of the program in February 2007. Jones is an original cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 146, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Transportation may not grant authority to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones of the United States-Mexico border. He is also an original cosponsor of H.R. 1756, the NAFTA Trucking Safety Act of 2007, legislation to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating beyond U. S. municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border until certain conditions are met to ensure the safety of their operations.

For additional information, or to schedule an interview with Congressman Walter B. Jones, please contact Kathleen Joyce at (202) 225-3415.