OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL DEFUNDS MEXICAN TRUCK EXPERIMENT

Will Bush comply?

Tucked inside the FY2008 omnibus spending bill signed by President Bush on December 26, is language that stops the Department of Transportation from spending any money to implement its experimental program under which Mexican trucking companies would be allowed to operate within the U.S. if similar concessions are granted to U.S. companies wanting to operate within Mexico. The deal between the two countries would have required both nation's to certify certain trucking companies which met all existing federal safety and insurance requirements of the respective countries. It's unclear whether the "no funding" provision, included as part of the report accompanying the omnibus bill, will have an impact as President Bush has indicated he may order his departments and agencies to ignore any "instructions" from Congress not contained in legislative language.