REP. BRIAN MAST: I want unsafe truckers off our highways — and America's veterans in their seats

One twelvemonth agone this week, 3 Floridians senselessly mislaid their lives connected Florida’s Turnpike adjacent Fort Pierce owed to the implicit and utter recklessness of a If you are a overseas nationalist driving a commercialized motortruck successful America, you should person to conscionable the aforesaid basal information requirements arsenic everyone else." motortruck operator with an amerciable CDL license.

Three radical died for doing thing much than simply driving down the road erstwhile a tractor-trailer operator made an amerciable U-turn done an entree point, cutting crossed postulation and leaving an approaching minivan with obscurity to go.

Their families volition transportation that nonaccomplishment for the remainder of their lives.

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We cannot bring those Americans back. But we tin determine who drives connected our highways and whether their senseless deaths are going to beryllium different calamity we forget—or a informing that yet forces america to hole a breached system.

I take the latter.

America should not little our standards to accommodate overseas nationals who cannot conscionable basal commercial-driving requirements. Full stop. Shortsighted authorities policies and lax national oversight, similar California issuing Non-Domiciled CDLs without rigorous verification of ineligible enactment presumption oregon connection skills, are endangering each and each American citizen.

The Trump medication has made wide that Freedom Haulers is portion of a broader effort to ace down connected unsafe overseas drivers, reconstruct integrity to the trucking industry, and springiness our veterans good-paying jobs present astatine home.

And this doesn’t person to beryllium the case. We person the champion trained drivers successful the world. American veterans already person the discipline, training, and acquisition needed connected the road, and I can’t deliberation of amended grooming for our commercialized trucking industry.

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That is what President Trump’s Freedom Haulers inaugural is about, and that’s wherefore I’m arrogant to present the measure to marque it law.

Freedom Haulers recognizes thing the remainder of the state should person recognized agelong ago: subject acquisition counts. Veterans person the discipline, precision, accountability and acquisition that trucking demands. Qualified veterans with subject heavy-vehicle acquisition tin usage existing national waivers to debar redundant roadworthy investigating and get into the manufacture faster.

Now Congress needs to marque that argumentation permanent.

That is wherefore I americium introducing caller Freedom Haulers authorities to codify the program.

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It is astir getting Americans who served this state into the trucking manufacture portion getting dangerous, unqualified overseas drivers disconnected our roads. The Trump medication has made wide that Freedom Haulers is portion of a broader effort to ace down connected unsafe overseas drivers, reconstruct integrity to the trucking industry, and springiness our veterans good-paying jobs present astatine home.

That’s why, with my measure and President Trump’s initiative, we volition beryllium creating a programme that accelerated tracks American veterans into the trucking industry, allowing veterans with qualifying subject driving acquisition to skip the CDL cognition test, successful summation to existing mechanisms that tin fto them bypass the road/skills test, and usage veterans’ benefits to wage for CDL training.

Federal instrumentality already requires commercialized drivers to talk English and work roadworthy signs, but lax enforcement has allowed drivers who scored arsenic debased arsenic 2 retired of 12 connected proficiency tests onto our highways.

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Foreign nationals driving connected our roads, who failed English proficiency tests, who can’t recognize our roadworthy signs, and who don’t cognize the driving laws are a existent occupation successful our country, and we don’t request to suffer different American due to the fact that of it.

It ends now.

If you are driving a commercialized motortruck connected American highways—regardless of wherever you were born—you indispensable conscionable strict, non-negotiable information requirements. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)

We request to get unqualified and unauthorized overseas drivers disconnected the road—and enactment American veterans down the wheel.

If you are driving a commercialized motortruck connected American highways—regardless of wherever you were born—you indispensable conscionable strict, non-negotiable information requirements.

If you are a overseas nationalist driving a commercialized motortruck successful America, you should person to conscionable the aforesaid basal information requirements arsenic everyone else.

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If you cannot show English proficiency, you should not beryllium down the instrumentality of an 80,000-pound vehicle. If you cannot walk the required skills test, you should not person a commercialized driver's license. If you are improperly licensed, improperly authorized oregon different neglect the requirements of national law, you should beryllium taken disconnected the road.

This isn't complicated.

It isn't anti-immigrant.

It isn't unfair.

It's communal sense.

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American families should not person to stock the road with idiosyncratic who cannot pass with instrumentality enforcement oregon show that they tin safely run a commercialized vehicle.

The calamity successful Fort Pierce, that happened conscionable a fewer miles from my home, showed wherefore that matters.

According to the facts, the driver, who entered our state illegally, had scored conscionable 2 retired of 12 connected an English proficiency trial but was inactive fixed a CDL licence by California. He was besides operating a commercialized tractor-trailer contempt failing to get a enactment authorization.

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That should ne'er hap again.

We should not beryllium bending the rules for radical who neglect them.

We should beryllium enforcing the rules—and past giving Americans who person already proven themselves an accidental to bash the job.

That is wherever our veterans travel in.

Truck and automobile postulation premix connected Interstate 5, headed northbound done Fife, Wash., adjacent the Port of Tacoma connected August, 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

For years, we asked American work members to run monolithic subject vehicles carrying troops, substance and instrumentality successful immoderate of the astir unsafe environments connected Earth. We trusted them with millions of dollars of equipment. We trusted them with the lives of their chap Americans.

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While programs beryllium to waive the driving trial for immoderate veterans, bureaucratic hurdles and inconsistent authorities rules inactive marque them leap done unnecessary hoops, including redundant written exams. We should chopped that reddish portion completely.

We should beryllium removing barriers for American veterans—not lowering standards for overseas drivers.

We should beryllium recruiting the Americans who person already demonstrated that they tin bash the job—not importing radical who cannot conscionable the minimum requirements to bash it safely.

And we should beryllium making 1 happening perfectly clear: A commercialized driver's licence is not a information trophy.

It is support to run a instrumentality weighing tens of thousands of pounds alongside American families.

That privilege comes with an tremendous responsibility.

If you neglect the English test, you're disconnected the road.

If you neglect the skills test, you're disconnected the road.

If your licence was improperly issued, you're disconnected the road.

If you are not legally authorized to clasp the credential that allows you to run a commercialized vehicle, you're disconnected the road.

There should beryllium nary loopholes. No excuses. No 2nd acceptable of standards.

And erstwhile those drivers are removed, we should capable those seats with Americans who earned the close to beryllium there.

Our veterans person already answered the call.

They've driven subject trucks.

They've followed orders.

They've operated nether pressure.

Now we should springiness them different mission: Keep America moving.

The day of the Fort Pierce clang is simply a reminder of what happens erstwhile we proceed to fto unsafe radical spell connected our roads.

We beryllium those 3 victims much than thoughts and prayers.

We beryllium their families action.

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That means enforcing the rules against overseas nationals who cannot conscionable our standards. It means making definite each commercialized operator tin pass successful English and show the skills indispensable to safely run a large rig. And it means opening the doorway for American veterans who person already demonstrated those abilities.

We don't request to little the bar.

We request to enforce it.

We don't request to look overseas for qualified drivers portion qualified Americans are lasting astatine the door.

We request to enactment our veterans down the wheel.

Get unqualified overseas drivers disconnected America's roads.

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Put American veterans down the wheel.

And marque our highways harmless again.

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