Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. EDWARDS. 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.

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