WASHINGTON – The following statement was offered by Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, in reaction to the Department of Transportation's extension of the cross-border trucking pilot program with Mexico:

“It is outrageous that the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a two-year extension to its cross-border trucking pilot program. It’s bad enough that DOT has for months ignored Congress’ direction to discontinue the program. But an extension of this program is a figurative crash through the legal barricades that Congress erected. “The safety and security flaws of this program remain unresolved, yet DOT continues to fight for it. A bipartisan majority of Congress voted to stop this program for those reasons, yet DOT extends it. “And while this illegal pilot program currently pertains to trucks, the same trade agreement that made it possible could also permit cross-border passenger bus service. We have untested drivers in uninspected trucks on our highways now. We may have untested drivers in uninspected buses — filled with people — barreling down our highways soon. I don't understand why the Administration thinks this is worth fighting for.”