GOP bill would require all truckers to pass English test as highway safety fears grow

Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., is spearheading an effort to make English proficiency an enforceable prerequisite for commercial drivers in the wake of fatal crashes caused by illegal immigrants who skirted language requirements.

"If you can't read 'bridge out ahead' or communicate with a state trooper at a crash scene, you have no business driving an 80,000-pound truck on American highways," Harrigan said.

On Wednesday morning, Harrigan unveiled the SAFE Drivers Act alongside cosponsors Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, and Rep. Bob Onder, Mo. 

The bill would instruct states to administer English proficiency tests for applicants pursuing commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) and grant the secretary of Transportation enhanced powers to oversee compliance.

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If the secretary determines a state has failed to implement the standard, the bill grants them the ability to withhold funding for other aspects of its commercial driving program.

The bill also includes reporting requirements states must make annually to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration detailing the number of prospective, successful and compliant applicants. 

"The SAFE Drivers Act [requires] one uniform English test nationwide before any CDL is issued. No more guesswork, no more state-by-state loopholes, just one standard that keeps Americans safe," Harrigan said.

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The SAFE Drivers act comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s decision to withhold $40 million from California after Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant, struck and killed three people after making an illegal U-Turn in Florida in August. California, where Singh had attained the CDL, had refused to enforce English language requirements, according to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

In a separate instance, Jashanpreet Singh, 22, an illegal immigrant who crossed the southern border, allegedly crashed headlong into a traffic jam on Wednesday while intoxicated. He, too, received a CDL from California — after having been released from prison under the Biden administration.

Duffy said that existing requirements should have prevented the administration of a CDL in both cases.

"U.S. Department of Transportation took THOUSANDS of commercial drivers out of service for not speaking English. Now we are withholding $40 MILLION from California for their refusal to do the same. TIME'S UP," Duffy wrote in a post to X.

Harrigan's bill isn't the only piece of legislation that seeks to give Duffy enhanced enforcement mechanisms. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., introduced a bill earlier this month that would deem drivers "out of service" if they fail to meet driving requirements. Harrigan's bill differs from Lummis' bill by applying the language requirement before the CDL license is granted. 

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"We have federal rules that require English proficiency, but no standardized test to enforce them, so states like California hand out commercial licenses to drivers who can't understand basic safety instructions," Harrigan said. 

Like other pieces of legislation, the SAFE Drivers Act likely won’t come to the floor for a vote until lawmakers resolve a 23-day shutdown and gridlock over how to fund the federal government. Consideration of a short-term spending bill failed for a 12th time in the Senate on Wednesday.