I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2547 
To expand the Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals who 
may qualify to perform physical examinations on eligible veterans and 
issue medical certificates required for operation of a commercial motor 
vehicle, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 18, 2017 
Mr. WOODALL (for himself and Ms. BROWNLEY of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To expand the Department of Veterans Affairs medical pro-
fessionals who may qualify to perform physical examina-
tions on eligible veterans and issue medical certificates 
required for operation of a commercial motor vehicle, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Expanded 
Trucking Opportunities Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. MEDICAL CERTIFICATE FOR VETERANS OPERATING 
COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES. 
(a) QUALIFIED EXAMINERS.—Section 5403(d)(2) of 
the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 31149 note; 129 Stat. 1548) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EXAMINER.—The term ‘quali-
fied examiner’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) is employed in the Department of 
Veterans Affairs as an advanced practice nurse, 
doctor of chiropractic, doctor of medicine, doc-
tor of osteopathy, physician assistant, or other 
medical professional; 
‘‘(B) is licensed, certified, or registered in 
a State to perform physical examinations; 
‘‘(C) is familiar with the standards for, 
and physical requirements of, an operator re-
quired to be medically certified under section 
31149 of title 49, United States Code; and 
‘‘(D) has never, with respect to such sec-
tion, been found to have acted fraudulently, in-
cluding by fraudulently awarding a medical cer-
tificate.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 5403 of 
the FAST Act (49 U.S.C. 31149 note; 129 Stat. 1548) 
is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘physician-approved vet-
eran operator,’’ and inserting ‘‘veteran operator 
approved by a qualified examiner,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘qualified physician’’ and 
inserting ‘‘qualified examiner’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the physician’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the examiner’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘qualified physician’’ and 
inserting ‘‘qualified examiner’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘qualified physicians’’ and 
inserting ‘‘qualified examiners’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘such physicians’’ and in-
serting ‘‘such examiners’’; and 
(4) in subsection (d)(1)— 
(A) in the paragraph heading by striking 
‘‘PHYSICIAN-APPROVED
VETERAN
OPERATOR’’ 
and inserting ‘‘VETERAN OPERATOR APPROVED 
BY A QUALIFIED EXAMINER’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘physician-approved vet-
eran operator’’ and inserting ‘‘veteran operator 
approved by a qualified examiner’’. 
(c) RULEMAKING.—The amendments made by this 
section shall be incorporated into any rulemaking pro-
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ceeding related to section 5403 of the FAST Act (49 
U.S.C. 31149 note; 129 Stat. 1548) that being conducted 
as of the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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