Veterans' Transition to Trucking Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding, and I thank the chairman for his leadership and his endorsement of this commonsense legislation, the Veterans' Transition to Trucking Act, which is a bipartisan bill I introduced last year.

I have met too many veterans who struggle to find careers that are aligned with their goals and their skills when their military service ends.

We know that we all owe it to our heroes to do everything we can to support their transition to civilian life, including helping them find rewarding jobs and financial security.

Trucking is an essential sector of our economy, and they continue to hire more drivers.

Through the apprenticeship programs offered by motor carriers, veterans can use GI Bill education benefits to launch a career in trucking.

Right now, a patchwork of State laws make it difficult for the VA to approve certain trucking apprenticeships.

Some companies opt out of offering apprenticeships due to the bureaucratic hurdles of obtaining approval from more than 20 different State approving agencies.

This legislation would allow interstate commercial carriers to obtain a single VA approval for all of their apprenticeships, simplifying program administration for motor carriers and increasing the number of opportunities that are available to veterans.

Cutting red tape so trucking companies can employ veterans and help our economy is just common sense.

This legislation is bipartisan and also has the support of the Disabled American Veterans and the American Trucking Association.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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