OPINION:
On Feb. 25, an 80,000-pound truck was seen driving the wrong way for miles down Highway 61, a divided highway in my congressional district. Thankfully, the Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to the incident and placed the driver out of service before anyone was injured. Upon inspection, the driver failed to demonstrate English language proficiency; he was unable to properly identify or understand road signage. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated safety incident.
In 2025 alone, we saw at least 17 fatal crashes and 30 deaths that were caused by unqualified foreign drivers illegally operating commercial motor vehicles. The open border policies of the Biden Administration fueled this growing safety crisis. Thankfully, President Donald Trump and Secretary Sean Duffy recognize the danger posed by having unqualified truck drivers on our roadways and are working diligently to address it.
In June 2025, Secretary Duffy directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to perform a nationwide audit of each state’s issuance of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). The audit uncovered alarming rates of state noncompliance. For example, the review found 18 states improperly issued non-domiciled CDLs, including California, which had improperly issued approximately 17,000 CDLs; and Minnesota, which improperly issued one-third of their non-domiciled CDLs.
The administration is committed to cracking down on all those contributing to this crisis of unqualified drivers on our roads. FMCSA recently removed nearly 3,000 training providers from the Training Provider Registry for failure to meet curriculum standards or falsifying student data. We need to ensure our truck drivers are held to the highest safety standard. That starts with the instruction they are given when they enter the industry.
FMCSA and local law enforcement also recently conducted the first wave of Operation SafeDRIVE, a multi-state initiative focused on ensuring that drivers meet qualification standards and removing unsafe drivers from the nation’s roads. This first wave lasted three days and resulted in the removal of nearly 2,000 unqualified truckers across 26 states and Washington, D.C.
The administration has taken several additional steps to make our nation’s roadways safer. Most recently, during his State of the Union Address, President Trump encouraged Congress to pass Dalilah’s Law, and ensure that only qualified truck drivers can obtain a Commercial Driver’s License. Dalilah’s Law is named in honor of Dalilah Coleman, who was only 5 years old when an illegal alien crashed a big rig into her family’s car on Highway 395 in San Bernardino County, Calif. As a result, Dalilah sustained major injuries that she will have to live with for the rest of her life.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has been working closely with the administration on addressing this safety priority. I’d like to thank Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, for his leadership on Dalilah’s Law.
Dalilah’s Law will ensure that all truck drivers on our roads are qualified. This is common sense. If you can’t understand highway signs or communicate with police officers, you have no business driving a semi-truck.
Under current law, CDL holders are required to demonstrate English proficiency to obtain a CDL. However, some states allow the written portion of the CDL exam to be administered in languages other than English. California, for example, allows the written exam to be administered in 20 different languages. Not only does Dalilah’s Law close this loophole by ensuring all portions of the CDL exam are administered only in the English language; it also ensures that each state may only issue CDLs to individuals in our country legally with a clean driving record.
Dalilah’s Law codifies many of the important actions taken by this Administration and ensures our families aren’t needlessly exposed to unqualified, dangerous drivers on the road.
I commend President Trump and Secretary Duffy on their efforts to make Americans and our roadways safer. At the end of the day, this is a safety issue, and Dalilah’s Law is good, timely, commonsense legislation.
• Rep. Sam Graves represents Missouri’s 6th Congressional District. He is chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
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