Nearly 200 members of the U.S House of Representatives expressed their support Friday for a Senate bill that would block the hours of service rulemaking process from moving forward.

In a letter to Frank Wolf, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Transportation Appropriations, Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, and Bob Clement, D-Tenn., expressed their support for section 335 of the Senate transportation appropriations bill for fiscal year 2001. This provision would prohibit the Department of Transportation from using and funds made available by the act to finalize the proposed hours of service rule. The House transportation spending bill has no such provision, but Pryce, Clement and 175 other House members who signed the letter are asking that the Senate provision be included in the bill worked out by the Senate-House conference committee.
"The proposed rule has very questionable safety benefits," says the letter. "In fact, it will most likely be detrimental to safety on the highways." The letter talks about the impact the regulations would have on the trucking industry and on the economy as a whole, including the need for more drivers and more trucks.