[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 154 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S9647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENERAL MOTORS

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I have the distinct honor of rising 
today to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a true Michigan success 
story, the founding of General Motors Corporation. It was 100 years ago 
this month that a man named Billy Durant who, after years in the horse-
drawn carriage business, founded General Motors in Flint, MI. Durant 
had taken the helm at a small motor car company called Buick, and, in 
September 1908, incorporated it into General Motors. Under his 
stewardship, Buick became the best-selling brand in the world, 
affording Durant the opportunity to buy a number of other small 
companies including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and the company that would 
eventually be known as Pontiac. Later he started Chevrolet and brought 
it into General Motors as well.
  Over the century that followed its incorporation, GM would become the 
largest company in the world, driven by the goal articulated by Alfred 
Sloan, president of GM in the 1920s and 1930s, to build ``a car for 
every purse and purpose.'' In that pursuit, the company time and again 
originated innovations that continue to benefit consumers to this day, 
ranging from the closed-body car, 1910, to the electric starter, 1912, 
to mass-produced automatic transmissions, 1940, to pollution controls, 
1963, to airbags, 1973, to the catalytic converter, 1974.
  But the intertwined nature of the company with this nation's economic 
growth extends far beyond innovative technological contributions and 
even beyond balance sheets and metrics for economic growth.
  You can ask just about anyone, ``What's the heartbeat of America?'' 
And years after that slogan last passed across our television screens, 
people still know the answer is Chevrolet. And of course many Americans 
heeded the good advice to ``See the USA in your Chevrolet.'' Cadillac 
has become a ubiquitous synonym for quality. The Pontiac GTO defined an 
era of muscle cars. The legendary ``409'' block engine became an 
American icon.
  During the Second World War, GM provided more than $12 billion of 
goods to support the Allied effort, more than any other company. The 
company also played critical roles in the navigation system that sent 
Americans to the moon for the first time, and designed and built the 
lunar rover, which was used by astronauts to travel around the Moon in 
subsequent trips.
  Today, GM employs more than 250,000 people, and in 2007 sold nearly 
9.37 million cars and trucks. And its next century is filled with 
promise. As the GM marketing team has noted, in 2008 we are in the 
middle of an American revolution.
  The company that helped to make Michigan the arsenal of Democracy is 
working on fuel cells that can make help break our democracy's 
dependence on foreign oil. The company that invented the electric 
starter is going to be a leader in bringing a plug-in hybrid, the Volt, 
to consumers. The company that brought consumers the first automatic 
transmission is striving to bring consumers the first zero-emissions 
commute.
  I offer my congratulations to the entire GM family on 100 remarkable 
years, and wish them all the best in keeping the pedal to the metal for 
100 more.

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