Hoffa Praises Proposal to Ban Unsafe Mexican Trucks

Omnibus Budget Would Stop Cross-Border Trucking Pilot Program

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters General President Jim
Hoffa applauded the House Democratic leadership for including a ban on unsafe
Mexican trucks in the omnibus appropriations bill unveiled today.

Though Congress shut down the Bush administration's pilot program to open the
border in the 2008 appropriations, the Bush administration ignored the ban,
which expired at the end of the fiscal year.

"Shutting down the border is the right thing to do," Hoffa said. "There's no
guarantee that trucks or drivers from Mexico are safe. Until there is,
dangerous Mexican trucks should not be allowed to drive freely on our
highways."

Despite the bipartisan opposition to opening the border to the cross-border
trucking pilot program, the U.S. Department of Transportation said last year
it will extend the program for another two years.

Section 136 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill's Transportation Title states,
"None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may
be used, directly or indirectly, to establish, implement, continue, promote,
or in any way permit a cross-border motor carrier demonstration program to
allow Mexican-domiciled motor carriers to operate beyond the commercial zones
along the international border between the United States and Mexico."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more
than 1.4 million hard-working men and women in the United States, Canada and
Puerto Rico.

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Leslie Miller of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-8734,
lmiller@teamster.org