[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4288 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4288

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide grants to States 
to assist veterans with who were trained to drive large vehicles while 
   serving in the Armed Forces in obtaining, upon their discharge or 
  release from active duty service, State commercial drivers licenses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2012

   Ms. Hahn introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide grants to States 
to assist veterans with who were trained to drive large vehicles while 
   serving in the Armed Forces in obtaining, upon their discharge or 
  release from active duty service, State commercial drivers licenses.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commercial Drivers Licenses for 
Veterans Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM TO ASSIST VETERANS TRAINED TO DRIVE LARGE 
              VEHICLES IN OBTAINING COMMERCIAL DRIVERS LICENCES.

    (a) Program.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 
program consisting of awarding grants to States to assist veterans who 
received and completed training to drive large vehicles while serving 
in the Armed Forces of the United States in obtaining, upon their 
discharge or release from active duty service, State commercial drivers 
licenses.
    (b) Use of Funds.--Amounts received as a grant under this section 
may be used to assist veterans described in subsection (a) in obtaining 
State commercial drivers licenses as follows:
            (1) Providing to such veterans required course work and 
        training that take into account, and are not duplicative of, 
        course work and training received when such veterans were 
        active members of the Armed Forces of the United States, to 
        enable such veterans to satisfy State requirements for 
        obtaining a commercial drivers license, as determined by the 
        appropriate State regulatory entity.
            (2) Providing reimbursement for costs associated with--
                    (A) such course work and training; or
                    (B) applying for a commercial drivers license.
            (3) Expediting the licensing process.
    (c) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under this section, a 
State shall demonstrate to the Secretary's satisfaction that the State 
has a shortage of individuals with commercial drivers licenses.
    (d) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Congress an annual 
report on the program under this section.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2013 through 2017.
    (f) GAO Study and Report.--The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall--
            (1) conduct a study on the barriers experienced by veterans 
        who received training as large vehicle drivers while serving in 
        the Armed Forces of the United States and, upon their discharge 
        or release from active duty service, seek to obtain State 
        commercial drivers licenses; and
            (2) not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, submit to the Congress a report on the results of 
        such study, including recommendations on whether the program 
        established under this section should be expanded to assist 
        veterans seeking other type of licenses and certifications.
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