[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 10, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H10946]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE AUTO INDUSTRY FINANCING AND RESTRUCTURING ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to commend Chairman Barney 
Frank, the House leadership, and the administration for working 
together to bring relief to the automobile industry and millions of 
workers. By passing the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, 
H.R. 7321, we took the monumental step of both saving jobs and setting 
the U.S. automotive industry on a path that will make it globally 
effective, efficient, and competitive. And equally important, we 
established a new standard of accountability that must be enforced for 
any institutions seeking government assistance.
  For months, the Federal Government has been blindly throwing money at 
nearly every financial institution that blinks with no written 
requirements on how that money is to be used and with no written 
standards of transparency or accountability. In response, these 
institutions have taken hundreds of billion of taxpayer dollars and 
continued to do business as usual: the business of partying at the spa, 
getting their facials and manicures, getting millions in retention 
payments and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on sports 
sponsorships.
  This type of mismanagement of taxpayer funds has left the American 
people suffering from bailout fatigue. I get that. I have been one of 
the most vocal critics of this distribution of top funds to date.
  However, today's legislation is completely different. The automakers 
have been forced to leap over 5 million hurdles to even be considered 
to receive a loan. And with every demand we have made of them, these 
companies have willingly obliged.
  We cannot have one standard for white collar employees and a 
different standard for blue collar employees. We need to have strict 
standards for every one.
  The legislation passed today includes very important oversight 
provisions to protect taxpayer dollars, such as prohibiting golden 
parachutes and capping executive bonuses. It also establishes a ``car 
czar'' position to hold these companies accountable for developing and 
implementing viable long-term restructuring plans and ensuring 
compliance on financing efforts.
  And yet despite these requirements, there are some who will still 
believe that assisting the Big Three is a continuation of throwing good 
money after bad. I strongly disagree. With one in ten American jobs 
tied to the auto industry, this should not be considered a waste of 
money. We're talking about 3 million jobs expecting to be lost within a 
year if the auto industry goes down. With men and women across America 
continuing to struggle to keep roofs over their heads, to make ends 
meet, we simply cannot afford to lose these jobs.
  Lastly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing the 
loss of 533,000 jobs in November, the highest single month loss in 34 
years, and one of the most dismal reports in the Bureau's 124-year 
existence.
  These figures were simply staggering, and we can and we must do 
better. And by passing this legislation today, we are taking a first 
step in doing so.
  For this reason, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to quickly 
consider H.R. 7321 and enact this much-needed legislation as soon as 
possible. I ask them, and I hope they will have more faith in our 
automobile industry, and I encourage all of my colleagues to continue 
the strict standards of accountability as we move forward.
  With that, I yield back.

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