Eleanor Holmes Norton: “I want to thank Mr. Aguilar, who is the author of this bill, for his work in filling this hole so that members of the…”

“I want to thank Mr. Aguilar, who is the author of this bill, for his work in filling this hole so that members of the National Guard and reservists, indeed, are more easily able to obtain a commercial driver's license based on exactly the kind of training that the armed services gives. It is certainly true that we have had trouble in committee getting on-the-job training as a requirement. {time} 1730 Here, we have people who get on-the-job training, and on-the-job training of just the kind that our country needs, because of the shortage Mr. Aguilar spoke of in commercial drivers, a very difficult job that necessitates long hours, often away from one's own home and family. Madam Speaker, I regard this bill as a twin of the very first bill that we passed, the VA bill that allows the Veterans Administration to offer physical examinations, when we were alerted that there were only 25 physicians there who could do that. So this is a good pairing of bills that our country needs because of the shortage of commercial drivers, and that we owe our veterans and those who serve, even now, in our services. I am particularly pleased that this is a jobs bill. It seems to me that it is clear that when we enable more and more people to drive commercial trucks, we are increasing the supply of jobs available in our country.…”