Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, universal, safe, and consistent trucking regulations are vital to all aspects of the trucking industry and to all users of the national highway system. Ensuring highway safety must remain a priority of this body. It also remains critical that this body maintain predictable safety laws to sustain efficient outcomes for truckers, trucking companies, the manufacturers and growers of the goods that trucks transport, and the customers who buy the products.

Congress determined years ago that a uniform system of Federal trucking rules would lead to safer and more productive outcomes than a 50-State patchwork of trucking regulations, as goods are often transported across State lines. Despite Congress's intentions, we are seeing various State trucking rules being implemented across the country that stray from the Federal guidelines. We need to figure out how to address this. We need to make sure that we have commonsense rules that don't change every time a driver crosses a State line while continuing to protect truck drivers and road users from unsafe situations.

I think we have got a little more work to do before we are ready for a solution, but I pledge to work with all who are willing and maybe we can figure something out in the coming months.

Thank you. Maritime Security Program

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