Bob McCarty Writes

ProEnglish, an Arlington, Va.-based national organization that advocates for official English, released a letter to President Bush today, urging him to order U.S. Department of Transportation to stop allowing Mexican truck drivers involved in the NAFTA demonstration project to demonstrate their “proficiency in English” by answering questions in Spanish.

ProEnglish and the Washington D.C.-based Eagle Forum sponsored the letter which was signed by fifteen national organizations including Coalitions for America, the US Business and Industrial Council, and Concerned Women for America. [The action comes months after several members of the U.S. Senate sent a similar letter to the president.]

The letter responded to testimony March 11 by Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters at a Senate oversight hearing at which she conceded under questioning that Mexican truck drivers involved in the demonstration project are being designated “English proficient” even if they need to use Spanish to describe the meaning of U.S. traffic signs.

The letter said in part, “FMCSA [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration] regulations …exist because they are critical to public safety. Truck drivers on U.S. roads who are not proficient in English are a danger to themselves and other motorists. They cannot read or understand traffic warning signs or hazard signs on other vehicles. And they cannot communicate with police or public safety officials in the event of an accident or highway emergency.”

It concluded, “To protect the safety of all who use our roads and highways we urge you to order the Department of Transportation to reinstate the English proficiency requirement for Mexican truck drivers entering the U.S. And …make sure that motor carriers from any country are required to observe the same rules and regulations that American carriers are required to follow, especially those related to safety.”

ProEnglish Executive Director KC McAlpin said, “It is outrageous that the federal government is ignoring its own safety regulations in a program it administers, and is willing to put U.S. motorists at risk of injury or death to let Mexican heavy truck drivers who cannot read highway warning signs into the United States. The president can stop this and he should.”