(The Center Square) – Dalilah’s Law, the federal proposal Republicans say is strengthening highway road safety for big rigs, on Wednesday cleared the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Authored and filed Oct. 3 as the Non-Domiciled CDL Integrity Act by Republican North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer, the legislation taps into Connor’s Law authored by Ohio Republican Rep. Dave Taylor. English language proficiency is required for holders of commercial driver’s licenses, inclusive of road signs and ability to communicate with lawmen.
Other aspects include requirements for states to verify they are not issuing CDLs to people illegally in the country; stronger penalties up to and including withholding of federal funds; and a focus on ending “CDL mills.”
Passage was 35-26. Next stop if the floor of the House of Representatives.
“Ensuring each truck driver is qualified and legally operating will protect the public from these tragic, yet preventable accidents,” said Rouzer, chairman of the panel’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. “I want to thank Chairman Graves, Secretary Duffy, and my colleagues for their support and swift action in advancing this critical legislation. I look forward to working to get this bill through the House and Senate to answer President Trump’s call to restore public trust on our roadways.”
Missouri Republican Rep. Sam Graves is chairman of the committee and Secretary Sean Duffy leads the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The proposal’s namesake is Dalilah Coleman, in June 2024 a 5-year-old passenger in a vehicle struck by a semi-truck driven by a person illegally in America. The vehicle she was in was stopped, the truck driven by Partap Singh was traveling at 60 mph in California. Singh got the CDL in California.
Coleman’s injuries included a fractured skull, broken femur, and traumatic brain injury. She emerged from a three-week coma, and diagnosis of diplegic cerebral palsy and global development delay, to go with her family as a State of the Union guest of second-term Republican President Donald Trump last month.
“This legislation is the most direct effort yet to address the long-standing safety risks associated with non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses,” Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said in an email to The Center Square.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said 18-wheelers or large commercial vehicles should not be operated by anyone that can’t read or speak English.
“Because of Democrats’ border catastrophe, countless American lives have been lost and many more have been threatened at the hands of criminal illegal aliens,” he said.
Forty-eight state trucking associations (all but California, Delaware), the American Trucking Associations, Truckload Carriers Association and National Tank Truck Carriers signed a statement in support. In part, it said, “By reinforcing accountability and consistent enforcement in the CDL system, this legislation helps remove bad actors from the road while supporting the overwhelming majority of drivers and carriers who operate safely and by the book.”
“By addressing the use of foreign dispatch services, safety standards for commercial drivers, and strengthening accountability for motor carriers, this legislation takes meaningful action to protect the traveling public and the supply chain that powers our economy,” said Chris Burroughs, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association. “TIA looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to advance policies that enhance highway safety and secure America’s supply chain.”
