Ted Cruz Warns Of Drivers With 'Fraudulently-Issued' Mexican Driver's Licenses Are Now On U.S. Roads

Forbes Breaking News

At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned Trump Administration nominees about driver's license reciprocity with Mexico and Canada.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Bars, let's start with you.

00:03Today, the United States has reciprocity with Mexico and Canada,

00:06such that all three countries recognize each other's commercial driver licenses.

00:11The state of Texas and the Texas Trucking Association have flagged that drivers

00:15with fraudulently issued Mexican CDLs are coming into the U.S.

00:21These drivers may not actually have the experience to drive safely on the roads

00:25and could potentially be violating U.S. cabotage laws.

00:30Mr. Bars, can you discuss your views on this issue?

00:33And if confirmed, will you work with me and my office to fix this problem?

00:37Senator, thank you for the question.

00:40Safety is paramount, as we discussed earlier with my career in law enforcement,

00:44making sure that all drivers are safe on our roadway.

00:47But ensuring that drivers are qualified and safe has got to be the utmost importance

00:51of what we're doing with commercial vehicle safety.

00:55If confirmed, I'm committed to addressing this particular issue.

00:57I've worked closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety throughout my career

01:01and understand that this particular issue is concerning,

01:04and we'll work closely with you in your office to ensure that we can make sure

01:08that all drivers who are in our country are safe.

01:12Mr. Roberti, in a recent pipeline safety hearing held by this committee,

01:17my colleagues on the other side of the aisle asked whether PHMSA has been taking a lax approach

01:23to pipeline safety enforcement.

01:25Can you tell us about your safety enforcement record as PHMSA's former chief counsel

01:31and how you plan to appropriately enforce the pipeline and hazmat transportation rules?

01:36Thank you, Chairman Cruz, for the question.

01:40As you know, my last stint at PHMSA, we processed almost 800 enforcement cases.

01:48An effective inspection and enforcement program within an agency, a safety agency like PHMSA,

01:58goes to the heart of PHMSA's mission.

02:00And if confirmed, I can assure you I will bring that same transparent and effective approach

02:07to making sure that we have a strong enforcement program.

02:13Mr. Morrison, how should NHTSA encourage automakers to build safe and reliable vehicles

02:20without relying on costly government mandates that raise vehicle prices for consumers?

02:27That's a great question, Chairman Cruz.

02:29I think the first thing is making sure that automakers understand the agency's expectations

02:35for safety.

02:36Remember, we have federal motor vehicle safety standards, but more importantly,

02:40the agency has very, very broad defect authorities,

02:43and automakers have a responsibility to recall vehicles within five days of a defect in design

02:48construction performance that could lead to unreasonable risks to safety.

02:51So there's an automatic regulation that's working in the background,

02:54making sure automakers understand that can allow them to ensure that their designs are

02:59robust.

02:59Now, you do need regulation with new technologies.

03:04I think that's something that's clear, but only once the technology is well understood

03:08by the agency and the industry, and usually after the development of consensus standards.

03:16Mr. Bars, freight fraud and theft has become a rampant problem across the United States.

03:22For instance, FMCSA must remain a safety agency, but there are things FMCSA can do in its role

03:29overseeing motor carrier safety that would stop fraud.

03:33For example, FMCSA is updating its registration system, and as a part of that work, it will stop

03:39issuing new motor carrier, or MC, numbers and require more thorough identity verification.

03:47Mr. Bars, I'm working on legislation to enhance FMCSA's ability to identify and stop fraud.

03:55If confirmed, will you work with me on ways to stop freight fraud, and what do you see as the most promising strategies?

04:03Senator, thank you for that question.

04:05You're exactly right.

04:05This is a nationwide issue that is causing major issues, again, with the trucking industry and our economy.

04:15I look forward to working with you on this particular issue and working with all the different partners

04:20that we have to ensure that bad actors are penalized or they go to jail the way they need to,

04:27and we can work together with different agencies to make sure that that can happen.

04:30But I look forward to working with you on this particular issue moving forward.

04:34Yes, sir.

04:36Mr. Roberti, in the 2020 Pipes Act, Congress authorized FMCSA to approve test programs for pipeline operators

04:44to evaluate innovative new pipeline safety technologies.

04:49However, we've heard that FMCSA received no request to engage in the test programs

04:55due to the mountain of red tape the Biden administration required for approval.

04:59Mr. Roberti, as FMCSA administrator, will you plan to work with the pipeline industry to encourage the use of test programs

05:09to advance new pipeline technologies without the imposition of non-statutory red tape,

05:17including by removing the non-statutory requirements the Biden administration placed on the test programs?

05:23Mr. Chairman, I have heard there's been a lot of criticisms about special permit process.

05:32As I stated in my testimony, I'm a big believer that innovation and new technologies

05:39are the leaning edge for shifting the regulatory paradigm towards better safety.

05:46And so I can certainly, I don't know what's going on there regarding those programs

05:53and the processing of those requests and the pilot programs,

05:57but I certainly will commit to making that a priority to look into that situation

06:02and see about ways of streamlining and certainly removing red tape so that we can be more,

06:09we can be faster in pursuing opportunities to bring new technologies, enhance safety.

06:17Ranking Member Cantwell.

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