By: Duncan Hunter Everyone who works hard should have the opportunity to succeed; this is one of the founding promises of our nation. Unfortunately, we see many young Americans faced with the choice of either taking on tens of thousands of dollars in college debt or entering into a job market with grim prospects for untrained workers. The solution is equipping young graduates with the training and practical job-performance tools they need to thrive in today's workforce. It is for this reason I am introducing the DRIVE Safe Act to help expand economic opportunity for young people by providing them access to a high-paying job without crippling them with school debt. The DRIVE Safe Act aims to make jobs in the trucking industry more accessible and appealing to younger drivers. This industry provides access to economic security with average annual wages for private fleet drivers exceeding $62,000 a year and with senior drivers making $75,000 to $80,000. Compare this to the average American worker earning $50,000. While this is a good wage, it is becoming more and more difficult for today's families to meet all their needs with this type of earning ceiling, especially in high cost-of-living areas like my congressional district in San Diego County. The DRIVE Safe Act addresses the unfortunate -- and perhaps unintended -- consequence of federal restrictions imposed on young truckers that makes it difficult to fill these good paying jobs. Currently, while most states allow for issuing commercial driver's licenses at the age of 18, federal law restricts drivers under the age of 21 from crossing state lines, even when those borders are just miles apart. My bill would eliminate this barrier while, at the same time, increase safety on the road by also providing an enhanced and intensive vehicle operation and mentor-apprentice training program to drivers under the age of 21. Contrary to the myth that we are in the advent of autonomous Mack trucks, driverless trucking is not the job killer we have to worry about in the near or mid-term. Existing policies, however, are making it nearly impossible to hire the 890,000 driving jobs currently needed over the next decade in order to keep pace with growth and demand for freight transportation. In other words, not only do we currently have no plan to man a full trucking workforce, we actually have federal policies in place preventing us from doing so. Failure to act will lead to higher shipping prices and a loss of competitiveness and productivity for American businesses. My bill, supported by the American Trucking Associations, the National Retail Federation and the International Foodservice Distributors Association, addresses this problem and helps facilitate this need. With this common-sense approach, young adults can immediately step into career-paying jobs that would provide the economic stability which might be otherwise unattainable or unavailable. A good, stable job provides a lifeline against the range of challenges for new job seekers and the trucking industry has jobs to fill. While Congress is devoting a significant amount of time and funding toward fixing our nation's infrastructure, unless we help get young people in those empty seats behind the wheel, we will not come close to reaching our full potential. A fully manned trucking force is a vital cog in the continued regrowth of the domestic American economy. We can improve the lives of many young Californians, providing them with opportunities for advancement, and enhance the economy by eliminating the obstacles currently preventing the trucking industry from alleviating its workforce shortage. I look forward to bipartisan support for the DRIVE Safe Act when introduced and will work diligently as is makes its way through the legislative process. America's young workers deserve no less.

On December 3, 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to using campaign funds for personal expenses, ending a three-year investigation into Hunter's misuse of over $200,000. In June 2019, Hunter's wife pleaded guilty to knowingly and willingly using campaign funds with her husband for their family's benefit, agreeing to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Weeks later, federal prosecutors accused Hunter of using campaign funds for extramarital affairs with five women, including an aide. On March 17, 2020, Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison. On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) pardoned Hunter. This section presents a reverse-chronological timeline of noteworthy events in the investigation. 2020 (click to collapse) May 7, 2020: Judge Thomas Whelan granted a request to delay Hunter's date of surrender for his prison sentence until “on or before Jan. 4, 2021,” due to concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. March 17, 2020: Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison. January 7, 2020: Hunter submitted his resignation effective January 13, 2020. 2019 (click to expand) December 6, 2019: Hunter said that he would resign after the upcoming holidays. December 3, 2019: Hunter pleaded guilty to conspiring to misuse campaign funds. August 14, 2019: Hunter's trial was pushed back to January 14, 2020. June 24, 2019: Federal prosecutors accused Hunter of using campaign funds for extramarital affairs with five women, including an aide. A court filing detailed dinners, drinks, and trips funded by campaign money. June 13, 2019: Hunter's wife Margaret pleaded guilty to knowingly and willingly using campaign funds with her husband for their family's benefit. She acknowledged spending over $200,000 in those funds for personal use. Margaret agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. 2018 (click to expand) December 3, 2018: A judge set a trial date for the case of September 10, 2019. August 22, 2018: In an interview, Hunter said the indictment was politically motivated. "This is the Democrats' arm of law enforcement. That's what's happening right now. It's happening with Trump. It's happening with me. We're going to fight through it and win and the people get to vote in November," Hunter said. August 21, 2018: Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy. The indictment alleged that Hunter and his wife used $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including vacations, school tuition, and entertainment. Following the indictment, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) removed Hunter from the House Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Education and the Workforce Committees. February 5, 2018: Hunter denied any criminal wrongdoing in the use of his campaign funds. "I know the rules,” he said. “And if I did, it was an accident and I paid it back." He added that he had never signed his campaign's reports to the Federal Election Commission. 2017 (click to expand) March 23, 2017: The House Ethics Committee announced that it was deferring an investigation into the potential misuse of campaign funds by Rep. Hunter at the request of the Justice Department. The committee also released a statement on the allegations, saying that Hunter "may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services, and expenses." Hunter's attorneys, Elliot S. Berke and Gregory A. Vega, released a statement in response to the announcement. The statement said, “ Last year, Congressman Hunter became aware of expenditure issues confronting his campaign committee. Out of an abundance of caution, he took corrective action in consultation with the FEC and, ultimately, he and his wife personally repaid the campaign approximately $60,000. Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional. ”

On December 3, 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to using campaign funds for personal expenses, ending a three-year investigation into Hunter's misuse of over $200,000. In June 2019, Hunter's wife pleaded guilty to knowingly and willingly using campaign funds with her husband for their family's benefit, agreeing to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Weeks later, federal prosecutors accused Hunter of using campaign funds for extramarital affairs with five women, including an aide. This section presents a reverse-chronological timeline of noteworthy events in the investigation. 2019 (click to collapse) December 6, 2019: Hunter said that he would resign after the upcoming holidays. December 3, 2019: Hunter pleaded guilty to conspiring to misuse campaign funds. August 14, 2019: Hunter's trial was pushed back to January 14, 2020. June 24, 2019: Federal prosecutors accused Hunter of using campaign funds for extramarital affairs with five women, including an aide. A court filing detailed dinners, drinks, and trips funded by campaign money. June 13, 2019: Hunter's wife Margaret pleaded guilty to knowingly and willingly using campaign funds with her husband for their family's benefit. She acknowledged spending over $200,000 in those funds for personal use. Margaret agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors. 2018 (click to expand) December 3, 2018: A judge set a trial date for the case of September 10, 2019. August 22, 2018: In an interview, Hunter said the indictment was politically motivated. "This is the Democrats' arm of law enforcement. That's what's happening right now. It's happening with Trump. It's happening with me. We're going to fight through it and win and the people get to vote in November," Hunter said. August 21, 2018: Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, falsifying records, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy. The indictment alleged that Hunter and his wife used $250,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including vacations, school tuition, and entertainment. Following the indictment, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) removed Hunter from the House Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Education and the Workforce Committees. February 5, 2018: Hunter denied any criminal wrongdoing in the use of his campaign funds. "I know the rules,” he said. “And if I did, it was an accident and I paid it back." He added that he had never signed his campaign's reports to the Federal Election Commission. 2017 (click to expand) March 23, 2017: The House Ethics Committee announced that it was deferring an investigation into the potential misuse of campaign funds by Rep. Hunter at the request of the Justice Department. The committee also released a statement on the allegations, saying that Hunter "may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services, and expenses." Hunter's attorneys, Elliot S. Berke and Gregory A. Vega, released a statement in response to the announcement. The statement said, “ Last year, Congressman Hunter became aware of expenditure issues confronting his campaign committee. Out of an abundance of caution, he took corrective action in consultation with the FEC and, ultimately, he and his wife personally repaid the campaign approximately $60,000. Congressman Hunter intends to cooperate fully with the government on this investigation, and maintains that to the extent any mistakes were made they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional. ”