Politics

Administration Aid to Automakers Must Include Tough Provisions Mandated by House-Passed Bill

By Karina

Speaker Pelosi sent the following letter today to President Bush urging that any assistance provided to automakers by the Administration require the same strong taxpayer protections and conditions for viability and competitiveness that were passed by the House earlier this week.

The letter:

December 12, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush
The President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Bush:

Statements by the White House and the Treasury Department this morning declare that your Administration will provide financial assistance to prevent the imminent insolvency of the domestic automobile industry. This is the right decision for the American economy and for the millions of people employed and affected by that crucial industry following the failure of the Senate to approve the House-passed legislation negotiated by the White House, the Senate, the House and the automakers.

The Administration must now require, as a condition of receiving those taxpayer funds, the same tough accountability and shared sacrifice by all parties ? executives, unions, suppliers, creditors, dealers, bondholders, and shareholders ? mandated in the bipartisan legislation passed by the House this week. As you know, that legislation contained tough accountability and strict timelines for the automakers to develop a comprehensive restructuring plan to place them on a path toward viability and competitiveness. Failure by the automakers and other stakeholders to act urgently in developing and implementing a restructuring plan would end taxpayer assistance and permit the recalling of all loans. These same strong taxpayer protections and tough conditions should apply to any assistance provided to the automakers by your Administration.

In the same way that we worked together on a bipartisan basis to craft the legislation approved by the House, we must continue our work to restructure the domestic automobile industry so that it can emerge as a viable and competitive global leader. That will demand mutual sacrifice and tough accountability, as contained in the bipartisan House-passed bill.

Thank you for your cooperation on this issue of great urgency for the American economy and the American people.

best regards,

Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 12, 2008 (boomark / email).