Rep. Beth Van Duyne on Thursday introduced a bill that would tighten requirements for foreign nationals seeking commercial driver's licenses in the U.S. and impose severe penalties, including the loss of federal highway funding, for states that fail to comply.
"We've been working on this bill, actually for a couple of months, but you just continue to see headline after headline of these people who are getting these licenses, who don't speak English, they don't even know the rules of the road, and yet they're being given license to drive, basically a tank on our U.S. highways. And these tragedies just seem to be piling up," the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Newsline" Thursday.
Van Duyne cited a March crash near Austin involving an Ethiopian driver who she said held a license despite not knowing U.S. traffic laws. The crash killed five people and injured 11 others.
The bill would require applicants to prove legal status, provide proof of domicile, and demonstrate knowledge of traffic laws. States that fail to comply could lose federal highway funding.
"That will hopefully stop this, especially, you know, from states like California and New York that require more strict rules than they're given right now, very much outlining it, that they have to prove that they are here legally," she told Newsmax.
"And for states that don't do it, it's providing severe penalties, such as losing your federal highway funding because it seems like the only thing the Democrats actually understand is when they start losing money," Van Duyne said.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.