I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3781 

To increase the minimum levels of financial responsibility for transporting 

property, and to index future increases to changes in inflation relating 

to medical care. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To increase the minimum levels of financial responsibility 

for transporting property, and to index future increases 

to changes in inflation relating to medical care. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving National 

5 Safety by Updating the Required Amount of Insurance 

6 Needed by Commercial Motor Vehicles per Event (IN7 SURANCE) Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) In passing the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, 

4 Public Law 96–296, Congress intended for the min5 imum insurance levels to maintain safety. According 

6 to the House Report No. 96–1069, ‘‘the action of 

7 the Committee in increasing financial responsibility 

8 is to encourage the carriers to engage in practices 

9 and procedures that will enhance the safety of their 

10 equipment so as to afford the best protection to the 

11 public.’’. 

12 (2) The National Transportation Policy Study 

13 Commission (which consisted of six Members of the 

14 Senate, six Members of the House of Representa15 tives, and seven public members appointed by the 

16 President) recommended mandatory minimum insur17 ance requirements of $1,000,000, in its 1979 Final 

18 Report to the Congress, National Transportation 

19 Policies through the Year 2000. The Report stated: 

20 ‘‘As an example, all certificated motor carriers oper21 ating upon the highways should be obligated to carry 

22 adequate insurance (or proof of financial responsi23 bility equal to such insurance) to protect the public. 

24 The insurance should cover public liability, property, 

25 damage, cargo and environmental restoration with a 

26 $1 million for single occurrence, or another minVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jul 25, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3781.IH H3781

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1 imum amount sufficient to require periodic ‘on site’ 

2 inspection by the insurance company, with the min3 imum to be updated regularly. Non-certificated 

4 motor carriers should be subject to similar stand5 ards.’’. 

6 (3) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta7 tistics, the amount of $750,000, set in 1980 (the 

8 year of enactment), would have the same purchasing 

9 power as $4,923,153.29 in 2019, if the amount was 

10 raised to account for medical-cost inflation. 

11 SEC. 3. MINIMUM FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRANS12 PORTING PROPERTY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 31139(b) of title 49, 

14 United States Code, is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$750,000’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘$4,923,154’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary, in con19 sultation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall 

20 adjust the minimum level of financial responsibility 

21 under paragraph (2) quinquennially for inflation re22 lating to medical care.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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