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Politics : Stopping the North American Union -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ann Corrigan who wrote (47)	9/4/2007 2:47:45 AM
From: Neeka	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 111

Courtesy LB.... No Habla Ingles PATTERICO BLOG [Guest post by DRJ] There's been ample discussion in the media on the pilot program allowing MEXICAN TRUCKers to drive on US roads, including the Teamsters/Sierra Club lawsuit seeking to stop that program and the Ninth Circuit decision authorizing it to proceed. Most of the coverage has focused on the environmental and economic effects of the pilot program, with some coverage of the safety issues such as requirements that TRUCKers complete criminal background and drug and alcohol tests and that TRUCKs must pass vehicle safety and emissions inspections. There is also a pre-existing requirement that TRUCKers in the US speak English: "Interstate TRUCK and bus DRIVERS across America may find themselves pulled off the highway if state troopers or vehicle inspectors find they can't speak English. The requirement has been on the books for decades, but enforcement has begun before MEXICAN TRUCKs are allowed in the U.S. interior as of Sept. 6. "We have found people in violation of this for a number of years and we're working feverishly to correct it," said John Hill, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Since 1971, federal law has said that commercial DRIVERS must read and speak English "sufficiently to understand highway traffic signs and signals and directions given in English and to respond to official inquiries." The US government is concerned that "further delays in the project will strain the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico." It seems MEXICAN TRUCKers have also had enough of these requirements: MEXICAN TRUCKers, meanwhile, said they were prepared to leave merchandise in MEXICAN warehouses if U.S. authorities insisted on fines for not knowing English in the border zone. "We have been talking with U.S. authorities," said Luis Moreno Sesma, president of Mexico's national chamber of cargo haulers. "The law says that the operators should know English to cross the border, but we have said they should have special consideration for the border guys." Apparently it's common for border zone TRUCKers to not speak English but it's not a problem since many Americans in the border zone are bilingual. I'm still surprised at how intense the resistance to learning English is turning out to be. One might even say I'm speechless. patterico.com