Congressman requests cross-border hearing

Updated Feb 9, 2011

A congressman whose district encompasses the California-Mexico border has asked House transportation and homeland security leaders for a hearing on plans for a cross-border trucking program with Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, (D-Calif.) sent letters Jan. 26 and 27 to committee leaders representing both parties, but a hearing has not been set yet. β€œI do not believe the administration has any real sense of the impact of their proposal on road safety, border wait times, jobs or national security,” Filner wrote.

He quoted a homeland security report that said that in β€œ2010, criminals hijacked more than 10,000 commercial trucks in Mexico.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters union oppose opening the border, while the American Trucking Associations, commerce and farm entities support the move.