House Bill H.R. 1773: Safe American Roads Act of 2007 was upheld recently which prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from allowing motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operate across the border into the United States. President George Bush was in favor of this outrageous proposal and has stated that he will veto it. This is not surprising since President Bush stated on May 30th, 2006 that seventy miles of border fence would be constructed by September 30, 2007. Well, today is September 30th, 2007 and even though the funds and sources have been appropriated for the border fence, only three miles have been completed.

I have driven in Mexico, hauling dry goods in and out of the country. Mexico basically has no laws governing the commercial motor carrier and their drivers. There are no hours of service rules, drivers do not have log books and safety inspection requirements simply do not exist. Once, while in Monterrey, Mexico a truck in front of me could not get around the "millions" of vehicles in front of him, so he simply drove his rig up over the curb (sidewalk), taking out a street sign, and nobody appeared to even notice! Mexico does not have any EPA laws, so the fumes and smoke from the cars and trucks were blinding. The senate approved the proposal by a 74-24 vote, delaying the Bush plan to allow Mexican trucks to fill our highways in the United States. Who were the Republican Senators who voted against it? They are listed below in alphabetical order:

• Allard (CO)
• Bennett (UT)
• Bond (MO)
• Bunning (KY)
• Burr (NC)
• Cochran (MS)
• Cornyn (TX)
• DeMint (SC)
• Dole (NC)
• Domenici (NM)
• Grassley (IA)
• Gregg (NH)
• Hagel (NE
• Hutchison (TX)
• Kyl (AZ)
• Lieberman (CT) (Independent)
• Lott (MS)
• Lugar (IN)
• Martinez (FL)
• McConnell (KY)
• Murkowski (AK)
• Stevens (AK)
• Sununu (NH)
• Vitter (LA)

Two Republicans, Craig of Idaho and John McCain of Arizona must have felt that the safety of the American people was not important of an issue, because they did not even vote! As a Florida resident, it has opened my eyes to the insight of Senator Mel Martinez. If you are from Florida and would like to let Senator Martinez know how you feel you can do so by using the link below:

http://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfmFuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

Sometimes I feel as if the entire Presidential election is a scam like over the road trucking. The acts by President Bush and the Republican party seems as if they are purposely attempting to fail in order to bring in a Democratic President. Does the American vote really count anymore? Is the next President already decided by those in extreme power? When you sit back and watch the leaders of our nation do some of the things they do, one has to wonder.

The majority of credit has to go to the Democrats on this one . . . they voted to keep America's roads safe. Now let's see what President Bush will do . . .

About the Author

Aubrey Allen Smith is the author of the Truth About Trucking and an expert in motor carrier transportation. Fighting back for our nation's drivers, he reveals the scams of the truck driving schools and trucking industry. Please visit http://www.truthabouttrucking.com today, to learn more. (Special thanks to my friend Barry for his contribution to this article.)