Rep. Crawford Asks Biden to End Cross-Border Vaccination Requirements for Truck Drivers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Robertson (Sara.Robertson2@mail.house.gov)

Rep. Crawford Asks Biden to End Cross-Border Vaccination Requirements for Truck Drivers

10/28/2022

Washington –  Today, Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) lead a letter along with 55 of his colleagues asking President Biden to end vaccination requirements between the U.S. and Canada. Canada’s vaccination and testing requirements expired earlier this month, but the U.S. requirements are still in effect with no indication of removal. Several essential commodities are imported into the U.S. from Canada, including fertilizer, oats, propane, and chemicals. These regulations put more strain on our supply chain by hindering the trucking industry’s ability to move these essential goods quickly.

“The trucking industry is already suffering immense labor shortages, especially for drivers, which is raising costs on consumers and limiting the supply of nutrients, food, energy, chemicals, and other major products. Combined with a looming threat of a rail worker strike, we must look to alleviate any outstanding restrictions for our commercial truck drivers to further incentivize not only their return to work, but for onboarding new drivers as well,” the members wrote.

The letter also notes that the threat of COVID-19 continues to diminish while our commitment to a strong partnership with Canada remains.

“Open trade and cross-border supply chain mobility between the highly integrated American and Canadian agricultural sector is critical to our bilateral relationship. At this point in time, there is hardly any legitimate reason for cross-border vaccination requirements to persist for our nation’s truckers. We are two and a half years removed from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and one and a half years removed from civilian access to COVID-19 vaccines, not to mention over a year removed from available booster shots. COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have steadily declined for months. It is far past time we join Canada and the rest of the world in fully reopening our economy,” the members concluded.

Full text of the letter can be found here. 

Signatures include: Representatives Elise Stefanik, G.T. Thompson, Sam Graves, Randy Weber, Troy Nehls, Ralph Norman, Brian Mast, Tracey Mann, Nancy Mace, Jeff Van Drew, Mike Gallagher, Michelle Fischbach, Nicole Malliotakis, Diana Harshberger, Pete Stauber, Doug LaMalfa, John Moolenaar, Doug Lamborn, Jim Baird, Tim Walberg, Claudia Tenney, Greg Murphy, Tom Tiffany, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Brad Wenstrup, Dusty Johnson, Louie Gohmert, Greg Steube, Clay Higgins, Carlos Gimenez, Barry Moore, Jason Smith, William Timmons, Debbie Lesko, Michael Guest, Brad Finstad, Lisa McClain, Andy Biggs, Kat Cammack, Bob Gibbs, Mike Bost, Randy Feenstra, Michael Waltz, Mike Garcia, Mike Kelly, Michael Cloud, John Rose, Dan Newhouse, Brian Babin, Ashley Hinson, Ben Cline, Troy Balderson, Beth Van Duyne, Bill Posey, David Valadao and Ronny Jackson.

Industry supporters include: American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association, Border Trade Alliance, Canadian Trucking Alliance, National Tank Truck Carriers, Agricultural Retailers Association, National Grocers Association, The Fertilizer Institute, North American Millers’ Association, Gases and Welding Distributors Association, National Energy & Fuels Institute, National Private Truck Council, Reusable Industrial Packaging Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Propane Association, Canadian Propane Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and USA Rice.

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