Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act of 2023

Mr. Speaker, I thank Senators Fischer and Padilla for their leadership on the Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act.

I was happy to introduce the House version of this very important bill, H.R. 2830, and I look forward to the benefit this language will add on our veterans' quality of life once it becomes law.

Every day, brave men and women join our military to fight for the American Dream so that each of us can live in a country where we have the opportunity to succeed and are free to pursue a better way of life. However, all too often when our servicemembers are transitioning to civilian life, our government fails in their pursuit of achieving the American Dream.

A 2016 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that 53 percent of all veterans were unemployed for at least 4 months after leaving the military. These are our country's strongest citizens, yet we repeatedly fail to sufficiently support them as they make the biggest transition in their life, from servicemember to civilian.

S. 656 and H.R. 2830 make a much-needed change to the veteran educational assistance programs, expanding job opportunities for the brave men and women who serve our great Nation.

The VA CDL Act will increase veteran access to timely, quality commercial driver license training, reduce veteran unemployment or underemployment, and reduce the strain on our Nation's supply chain by increasing the truck driver workforce pool.

Currently, roughly 8,400 commercial driving programs are approved for use by eligible veterans under the GI Bill, but a bureaucratic 2-year rule prevents these training facilities from accepting GI benefits at secondary locations for 2 years.

This burdensome red tape has excluded many veterans from attending closer secondary branch training and dissuaded servicemembers from joining the trucking industry. Who better knows how to drive big stuff than our veterans?

Due to this rule, veterans must decide between finding a new career path, waiting 2 years to pursue their commercial driver's license, or in some cases traveling hundreds of miles away from their home for immediate training.

S. 656 and H.R. 2830 fix that issue by exempting new branches of preapproved training facilities located in the same State from the statutory 2-year wait to accept veterans' benefits.

It is high time that we take meaningful steps toward better supporting a veteran's transition into the civilian workforce. Too many arbitrary rules are impeding a veteran's ability to achieve the very American Dream that they are fighting for others to pursue, but the VA CDL Act helps to eliminate one of those barriers.

Ultimately, this is a commonsense reform bill that will reduce unnecessary roadblocks to veteran training and workforce opportunities, and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on S. 656, the Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act of 2023. This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to create an expedited approval process for commercial driver education programs when the program is an extension of an existing educational institution.

New programs must meet the same curriculum as previously approved by

VA to ensure veterans are not negatively impacted.

While I am considering supporting this bill today, I do wish to point out that our committee has been working on this bill for months, and we had reached a House and Senate bipartisan agreement on approved language for S. 656 that would empower State approving agencies to conduct proper oversight and limit automatic approval of these programs if they are opening in States without existing CDL programs.

However, despite these negotiations, for some unknown reason, this text is the same which passed in the Senate, ignoring the hard work our staff put in to reach a final agreement.

This is unfortunate, and I hope this won't be our last work on this language. It is critically important that we include important oversight provisions in bills such as these to ensure that veterans get the best possible training and that schools who access veterans' hard- earned GI Bill benefits are held accountable for the quality of their programs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague, Chairman Bost, for the purpose of a colloquy to ensure that we can still work to get this bill to a better state.

Mr. Chairman, I understand both our staffs have spent quite a bit of time working on bipartisan language to S. 656. Can I get your commitment that we will continue these discussions and pass an updated bill as soon as possible? I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost).

I appreciate that. We can get to work on an updated bill as soon as possible.

I appreciate that pledge.

My second question to you, Mr. Chairman. Can I count on your support for that amended bill, whenever it may be, this Congress or next?

I ask if I can count on your support for that amended bill?

Whenever it may be, this Congress or next?

Thank you. I appreciate that. I thank the chairman, and I will reclaim my time.

Mr. Speaker, while this bill will head to the President's desk, I hope our committee can continue to work on this issue in the meantime.

Despite my concerns and reservations, I will support this bill now, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 656, the Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act of 2023, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 656) to amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the rules for approval by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of commercial driver education programs for purposes of veterans educational assistance, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 656 offered by my colleague, Senator Fischer from Nebraska. This would cut through the red tape for the approval process for commercial driving schools across the country.

House Republicans' priority is to expand the employment opportunities for veterans after they leave the military.

As a former truck driver and a former manager of our family's trucking business, which I was raised in, I know how important it is to have qualified drivers.

The American Trucking Institute said they need 60,000 more drivers to keep the economy moving. This bill allows veterans to help meet that demand.

We may need to make changes to the law to address some concerns in the future. However, it is essential that we advance the bill to create more job opportunities for our veterans. I look forward to continuing to improve CDL programs, and I urge my colleagues to support S. 656.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

You have my word we will continue to work with your staff to do the best we can. I think this bill is in very, very good shape the way it is. As the only one that actually has a CDL, we should probably realize that the safety is here, that is all good, but I would be willing to work on it in the future to move it on out today.

Yes.

Ask that question again. I am sorry.

The updated language is in the Dole Act, if we can have the opportunity to have the Dole Act, too.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards).

Mr. Speaker, as a veteran and as a person that drove big stuff, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 656 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.