THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
DENVER CROSS-BORDER EVENT
DENVER, CO
MARCH 25, 2008
1:45 PM
Thank you, Commissioner Stulp, for those kind words. And thank you to Rex Moore
for hosting us at Maverick Ranch.
The impressive gathering of representatives from across the spectrum of
Colorado’s agricultural producers underscores the critical role exports play in
Colorado’s economy. I especially want to thank the members of the Colorado Farm
Bureau who have been strong supporters of our effort to level the playing field
for U.S. truckers.
Walking through this great facility reminds me of my days as a meat cutter at a
pork plant in Indiana. Just like you, we worked hard to make sure our customers
got the best product as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, thanks to new technology and more efficient shipping options, it
takes less time than ever to get rib eyes and porterhouses to kitchens and
restaurants across the state, across the country, and across our borders.
Indeed, today our nation is experiencing tremendous growth in the amount and
value of products we export to Mexico. Every day, for example, thousands of
truckers cross our border carrying billions of dollars worth of goods.
Businesses in Colorado ship over $350 million worth of items like beef,
potatoes, and cabbage to Mexico every year.
But the simple truth is that, the more it costs to ship these goods to markets
like Mexico, the less growers and ranchers in Colorado make. Nowhere do we see
this more clearly than in our trade with Mexico. That is because, for as long as
anyone can remember, U.S. truckers have not been allowed to haul our goods and
groceries beyond our border.
As a result, every slab of beef, every bushel of cabbage and every sack of
potatoes leaving this state for Mexico has to come to a complete stop north of
the border while they are loaded onto Mexican trucks driven by Mexican drivers
before heading south.
Those delays cost money, and put Colorado’s businesses at a disadvantage. People
may pay a premium for 18-day dry-aged steaks, but no one is going to pay a
premium for steaks aged on an 18 wheeler.
All of that changed last September when we established a cross-border trucking
demonstration project designed to give American companies their first-ever
access to the highly lucrative business of moving goods across our southern
border.
Thanks to this project, the same American trucks that pick these goods up in
places like Fort Morgan, Greeley, or Denver can now take them directly to
Monterrey, Juarez, and Tijuana, without delay or diversion of profits. And that
means growers and ranchers in states like Colorado can keep more of the profits
and proceeds from every item they sell in Mexico.
Yet, at a time when even our most successful businesses need all the
opportunities they can get, and at a time when our economy should not have to
weather needless delays and added costs, some in Washington are calling for an
end to this trucking project.
Such an end would once again force our U.S. truckers to sit idle while thousands
of their colleagues from Mexico continue to safely haul goods into the U.S. It
would force American businesses to cancel lucrative contracts to ship products
and produce to and from Mexico. And it would put businesses like this one at a
disadvantage at a time when every dollar worth of exports really counts.
It is hard to understand why anyone would choose a time like this to slam the
door on growth and profits for U.S. businesses.
Whatever their reason, this is no time to let the politics of pessimism dim the
promise of prosperity for hundreds of thousands of American drivers, growers,
and manufacturers. This is no time to make it more difficult for these men and
women to get their goods to market.
Our drivers and our workers do not deserve a timeout from hope, success, and
prosperity. We should be looking for every chance to open new markets for our
drivers, to find new buyers for our products, and to encourage new consumers for
our produce.
The Cross-Border Trucking Demonstration Project does just that.
Thank you. I will now take questions.
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Briefing
Room
