HYDE-SMITH SEEKS ACTION TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY WITH COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE CRACKDOWN

HYDE-SMITH SEEKS ACTION TO IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY WITH COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE CRACKDOWN

Hyde-Smith Says Recent Tragedies Underscore Need for Federal, State Attention to Illegal Immigrants Driving Commercial Vehicles

VIDEO CLIP: Senator Hyde-Smith Addresses CDL Public Safety Issues.
VIDEO: Senator Hyde-Smith Delivers Speech on Abuse, Fraud in Issuing Commercial Driver's Licenses Poses Critical Safety Issue for All Drivers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) Appropriations Subcommittee, today encouraged congressional action to improve highway safety by ensuring commercial drivers are in the country legally and are proficient in English.

Hyde-Smith made the call in a Senate floor speech that cited tragic accidents in multiple states involving drivers issued Commercial Driver's Licenses (CDLs) aided by systemic federal and state inattention to laws, regulations, and public safety.

"Across the country, we are seeing a disturbing rise in deadly accidents involving large commercial trucks driven by individuals who should have never been behind the wheel to begin with - often foreign nationals in the country illegally who exploited weaknesses in our Commercial Driver's License, or CDL, system," Hyde-Smith said.

"Sadly, incidents like these are becoming far too common, and we must ask why. The answer lies in failed policies. Under previous Democratic administrations, safety enforcement was weakened, loopholes were opened, and fraudulent CDL issuance went unchecked," the Senator said.

Hyde-Smith also commended President Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for acting to stop undocumented immigrants from obtaining CDLs, including launching a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration audit of state CDL licensing practices and detaining illegal immigrants with CDLs.

"Needless to say, seeing ICE and State law enforcement come together to make America's roads safer is a step in the right direction," Hyde-Smith said. "Republicans in the Senate and this Administration remain committed to protecting American lives and keeping our roads safe. One key to doing that is to ensure CDL holders are here legally and are proficient in the English language and can actually read the road signs."

As the T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee chair, Hyde-Smith is advocating for the Senate to take up the committee-passed FY2026 T-HUD Appropriations Bill that includes bill and report language to direct the Secretary of Transportation to update regulations to ensure enforcement of federal code requiring Commercial Motor Vehicle drivers "can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records."

Hyde-Smith also supports action on legislation she cosponsored to address English language proficiency enforcement for CDLs license applications, including the Commercial Motor Vehicle English Proficiency Act (S.2114) and the Safer Trucking Act (S.2690), which restricts the issuance of CDLs to only U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and individuals who are authorized for employment by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Finally, Hyde-Smith also praised the State of Mississippi for acting to ensure only qualified people receive or use a CDL in the state.

"Mississippi has taken decisive action and, in just the last three months alone, has identified 85 illegal drivers and referred them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement," Hyde-Smith said. "The State of Mississippi does not issue non-domiciled licenses and strictly enforces English-language proficiency testing to keep our roads safe. My state is doing its part, but states cannot do this alone. The federal government must close these loopholes and enforce the law."

Read Senator Hyde-Smith's full floor speech here.

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