House Republicans have rolled out their “Commitment to America” framework, which outlines a five-year legislative plan to fix the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure, as well as a plan to significantly reduce the project permitting process. 

“This critical long-term bill will be based on the STARTER Act, which Committee Republicans introduced earlier this year,” said Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves.   

According to Graves, this framework originated once it became clear that a bipartisan surface transportation bill was not in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plans.

“It is good that now both Democrats and Republicans have put forward plans to address the need to rebuild our infrastructure, but it is disappointing that the two sides aren’t trying to resolve their ideological differences," said a spokesman from American Trucking Associations. “There are real, long-term issues with the Highway Trust Fund and how we pay for our roads and bridges that need concrete, long-term solutions. We need our elected leaders to get serious about coming together and addressing these issues.”    

Laid out in a one-page document, the Commitment to America plan aims to bring “high-speed internet to every household in the United States, launching a five-year plan to fix our roads, bridges, and airports, while cutting the permitting process time in half.”

“Republicans [aim to] improve our infrastructure that reforms the infrastructure project review and delivery process, focuses on traditional core transportation needs, emphasizes investment in rural America’s often neglected infrastructure, prepares our system for future transportation technologies, and fixes the Highway Trust Fund,” Graves added.

The Republican plan also plans to fully fund the VA Choice healthcare program that trusts veterans to choose their own doctor, while expanding GI Bill education benefits so that every veteran who wants a job can find one.

Veterans are already seeing assistance. In August, The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) awarded nearly $80 million in grants to states and educational institutions to enhance commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety. Twenty educational institutions received $2 million of this grant to help train veterans for jobs as commercial bus and truck drivers.