[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 65 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STRONGER CHRYSLER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Madam Speaker, I rise today to praise the 
very hard work of this administration and the President's auto task 
force and the many stakeholders in Chrysler who came together in an 
effort to protect jobs and build a stronger, leaner and more 
competitive Chrysler.
  Chrysler's management is to be commended for making the hard 
decisions needed to form a new alliance with Fiat that will make the 
company stronger and more competitive in the future.
  Many of Chrysler's creditors are to be commended for accepting a 
return on their investment that is more commensurate with the current 
market and will allow Chrysler to weather this economic crisis. Most 
importantly, Chrysler's workers are to be commended for sacrificing, so 
greatly, really, in accepting painful concessions that will allow the 
company to better compete. Because of all of this hard work, the 
foundation was laid for Chrysler to successfully restructure outside of 
bankruptcy.
  But bankruptcy will now be required only because of the greed of a 
few Wall Street hedge funds that held a portion of Chrysler's debt. 
Much of that debt had been purchased at pennies on the dollar, but 
these hedge funds demanded a return much higher than what was being 
accepted by other lenders and much higher than what the current market 
would bear, Madam Speaker.
  These hedge funds operate in an unregulated area of the economy, and 
they seem to care only about maximizing their profit, no matter what 
the cost. They have seemingly no concern for the workers or families 
that would be devastated by the destruction of Chrysler.
  They demonstrate no concern for the communities across this Nation 
that depend on a healthy Chrysler. They show no concern for the myriad 
of companies that would be forced out of business because of their 
dependence on business with Chrysler. Their only concern seems to be 
their desire to squeeze the last drop of blood out of this company. 
Those who seek to game our financial system in a fashion that helps 
only them and hurts countless other Americans do not have the best 
interests of our economy or our Nation at heart.
  President Obama said today that he does not stand with these greedy 
hedge funds, and neither do I. But I believe that the plan developed by 
Chrysler and its stakeholders is strong and will fare very well in a 
quick bankruptcy proceeding.
  At the other end of this time, I believe that we will see a stronger, 
leaner, more competitive and healthy Chrysler that will continue to 
build some of the greatest cars in the world. Some of my colleagues, 
who may have advocated bankruptcy last December, will feel vindicated 
that this bankruptcy filing happened today, but they should not.
  Those who oppose bridge loans and called for a bankruptcy filing last 
December, in my opinion, held a position that would have led to a 
disorderly bankruptcy in the liquidation of this iconic American 
company. Such a bankruptcy would also have led to far greater burdens 
being placed on the American taxpayers when they would have had to 
absorb higher workers' pensions, health care costs and unemployment 
benefits. Those costs would have been much higher than what has been 
extended in bridge loans.
  Fortunately, President Bush thought better and provided those bridge 
loans and bought this important company important time to reconstruct 
and to construct a strong viability plan.
  Fortunately, President Obama and his auto task force worked in good 
faith with all of the stakeholders to put that viability plan together, 
and they are offering the continued support needed to see that the plan 
is going to have a successful conclusion. And what is included in that 
plan?
  Madam Speaker, most importantly, no plant closures or new job losses. 
It calls for a strategic partnership with Fiat that will provide 
innovative technology to build outstanding fuel-efficient vehicles 
based on that technology right here in America. And it will also give 
Chrysler's outstanding products, like Jeep, enhanced access to the 
European market.
  It also ensures that every single dime of taxpayer money will be 
repaid before Fiat can take majority control of Chrysler. So jobs will 
be saved. More fuel-efficient cars will be built here by American 
workers and the taxpayers will have their investment returned.
  Now we will continue to look to the future, and there is more that we 
must do here in Congress to make certain that not only does Chrysler 
have short-term viability and long-term viability as well, but also 
that the entirety of the American auto industry does as well.
  The most important thing that we can do here to help the auto 
industry is to help spur sales. Madam Speaker, we only need to look to 
Europe, South America or Asia for plans that are actually working. 
Eighteen countries already have implemented fleet modernization 
programs, and every Nation that has done so has seen auto sales rise, 
while every country that has not has seen auto sales plummet in this 
difficult economy.
  That's why I was proud to introduce my partisan implementation to 
implement a fleet modernization plan, better known as ``Cash for 
Clunkers,'' right here in America. Our plan would provide consumers 
with a point-of-sale voucher to turn in older, less fuel-efficient 
vehicles for new more modern more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
  I would urge my colleagues to research our proposals and to join us 
in that.

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