Before 1982 Mexican truckers enjoyed access to U.S. highways. But lack of Mexican reciprocity led the U.S. to impose restrictions on that access.
These reciprocal access issues were supposed to have been resolved by NAFTA. In 1994 and 1995 the U.S. began to implement a phased extension of the existing restricted Mexican access. In the first phase, Mexican truckers would be allowed work in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Later they would be allowed access to the rest of the U.S.
However, Clinton backed off in 1995 and suspended the reintroduction of Mexican truckers. This was either because of safety and environmental concerns or protectionist lobbying. The reason will depend on who you talk to. Efforts to resolve the situation continued and in September 2007 the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) was ready to implement a limited, one-year, demonstration project to allow Mexican truckers nation-wide access.
On September 11, the Senate added an amendment to an FY2008 omnibus spending bill prohibiting spending on the project during FY 2008 (which began on September 1, 2007). Congress passed the legislation on December 19, and the President signed it on December 26. The amendment language read:
None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to establish a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico.
In the interim, between September 7 and the January 1 2008 effective date of the appropriations bill, DOT pushed ahead with the demonstration project on the grounds that the ultimate fate of the legislation was uncertain, the amendment might not be there at the end, or the President might veto the bill.
The amendment did make it through intact, and the President did not veto the legislation. Nevertheless, the week after Christmas DOT announced that the program would continue. I don't have a copy of the DOT statement, but Public Citizen analyst Catherine Kauffman posted in a blog (FMCSA’s New Year’s Resolutions: Ignore Public Safety Concerns and Defy Congressional Order , January 9, 2008) that DOT argued that, since the program was established prior to the effective date of the appropriations bill, subsequent operation wasn't affected by the legislation.
Senator Dorgan, a co-author of the amendment, contacted the Office of Senate Counsel to get their input. Legislative Counsel Polly Craighill responded (Craighill):
The language was drafted to carry out the intent of Congress that no funds made available under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 were to be used in fiscal year 2008 to establish or implement a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to allow Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones along the international border between the United States and Mexico. The phrase "and implement" was not included because it was felt that the phrase "establish" was to be construed in its broadest context and that such a broad construction would include implementation.
Dorgan is not happy (Dorgan news release January 3, 2008; Dorgan letter to DOT Secretary Mary Peters, January 3, 2008) and has promised a hearing (Dorgan news release January 11, 2008).
Dan Griswold over at the CATO Institute describes the tortured history of the implementation of this NAFTA provision: Attempt to Limit Mexican Trucking in U.S. Masks Union Agenda (December 20, 2007). Said Talib at the Plunkett Clooney law firm also lays out the history: Mexican Long-Haul Program Moves Forward Despite Staunch Opposition (January 18, 2008 - despite the January date on this essay, Talib doesn't discuss events after mid-November 2007, so it was probably written some weeks ago.)
Minor text edits Nov 18, 2008, not substantive.
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