Thread: House Passes Ban on Cross-Border Truck Program

House Passes Ban on Cross-Border Truck Program


Funding Prohibition Part of Transportation Spending Bill


WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The House of Representatives today passed the transportation spending bill that includes a ban on funding the Bush administration's cross-border truck program.


Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said he fully expected the funding ban to win final passage because of its overwhelming support from Congress and the public.


"Letting trucks from Mexico drive everywhere in America is unpopular for a good reason: it's dangerous and illegal," Hoffa said.


The Senate is expected this week to pass the same bill, known as Transportation-HUD or THUD. The spending bill reconciles separate versions passed by both chambers. President Bush has said he will veto the bill.


"The Teamsters won't quit the fight to stop the Bush administration's reckless program," Hoffa said. "Our members will urge their representatives to override the veto, and we will continue our lawsuit to prevent the program from starting up again."


The Teamsters union is suing to block the program in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The union submitted its arguments to the court in October and the government has until Monday to reply. The case is expected to be heard in February.


Earlier this year, the Teamsters sought unsuccessfully to obtain an emergency injunction blocking the program before it began. Since then, a handful of trucks from Mexico have been allowed to travel beyond the narrow border zone.


The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hard-working men and women in Canada and the United States.

Website: http://www.teamster.org/

http://sev.prnewswire.com

Wooooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooo Man when we get good news for all of our hard work... it just pumps me up

Good news seems to be just flooding us all lately

House Vote to Cut Off Funding for Bush's Reckless NAFTA Trucks Program Is Important Step for Safety

The House of Representatives today passed, on an overwhelming 270-147 vote, a spending bill that strips funds from the controversial NAFTA trucks pilot program.

Posted: 11/14/2007


Earlier this year, both the House and the Senate passed versions of the Department of Transportation appropriations bill with language to de-fund the so-called “pilot programâ€

Another big win for our cause in 24 hours!

W

I posted a request in Gen Disc, we need the best articles on this on the homepage and I need the bill number and status to know if it is headed to the Senate so we can get our people informed of this victory in the house and behind the bill in the Senate.

W

THIS IS SUCH GREAT NEWS. EACH VICTORY FUELS THE NEXT VICTORY.

Transportation Spending Bill Facing Veto
By ANDREW TAYLOR – 18 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just a day after President Bush vetoed their top domestic spending bill, congressional Democrats drew nearer to sending him one more, even though it faces an identical fate.

By a 270-147 vote, the House passed a bill that provides $105.6 billion for transportation, housing and community development programs. The measure, which the Senate probably will act on this week, was $5.5 billion more than Bush's budget. It restored administration cuts to Amtrak, community development grants and housing programs.

The president has promised to veto the bill because it exceeds his budget requests. That was the same reason he cited Tuesday when he vetoed a health, education and job training bill that was almost $12 billion more than he wanted to spend.

The House margin was eight votes short of the two-thirds that would be required to override a veto. House Democrats were expected to fail in a vote Thursday to override the rejected health and labor measure.

Bush has taken a hard line with majority Democrats over spending, promising vetoes of at least nine of 12 of the annual spending bills that set agency budgets for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

He issued a new veto threat on the transportation and housing bill Wednesday. "Congress has failed to show a path to hold spending to reasonable and responsible levels," according to the White House. "This unwarranted spending puts a balanced budget in jeopardy and risks future tax increases."

With Congress ready to leave town on Friday for a two-week Thanksgiving recess, there has been faint progress on the budget logjam, except for enactment of the Pentagon's budget. It is looking increasingly likely that agreement on the annual spending bills — the core responsibility of Congress — will drag into the new year.

Democrats defended the latest spending bill, popular with lawmakers for the money for highways, mass transit, federal aid to airports, Amtrak, low-income housing and community and economic development grants.

The measure also contains $250 million for counseling to help homeowners threatened with foreclosure in the housing crisis. That includes $200 million for nonprofits and other groups that help homeowners with subprime mortgages avoid foreclosures and $50 million to counsel potential homebuyers about avoiding foreclosures.

Many subprime borrowers are unsophisticated and are often intimidated in their dealings with mortgage servicers. Nonprofit groups such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and NeighborWorks America give advice and often serve as intermediaries for borrowers requiring adjustments to the terms of their loan.

The bill has $195 million to replace the collapsed Interstate 35W span in Minneapolis and an additional $1 billion above Bush's request to help states fix deteriorating bridges.

Republicans criticized the bill for its 2,000-plus pet projects, including money for bike paths, grants to local transit agencies, new road and bridge projects, community centers and parks.

The money-losing Amtrak passenger railroad, a target of the administration for excessive subsidies on long-distance routes and other management problems, would receive almost $1.5 billion, $550 million more than sought by the White House.

The measure would block the Transportation Department from going ahead with a pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways. Supporters of the plan, including the administration, say it would save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Labor and driver-owner groups have fought the measure since it was first proposed, saying the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs.

http://ap.google.com

This makes me feel so good. We have to keep on fighting and fighting. Let the Government know how us citizens feel about the way our Government is being run. It doesn't take a lot of time out of our day to make phone calls or email our representatives. Think about how much time we waste each day. We do have time in our day to make a difference. Good work everyone, let's keep on rolling.

YEE-HAA! THAT IS GREAT NEWS!

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