[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 78 (Wednesday, May 20, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5865-H5866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SAVING AN EMBLEM OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, President Obama has stated that America can 
not, must not and will not let our auto industry simply vanish. The 
industry is like no other, he said--``an emblem of the American spirit, 
a once and future symbol of America's success.'' I could not agree more 
with the President. We must do what we need to do to save this vital 
industry in the face of the Wall Street meltdown and virulent and often 
unfair foreign competition. No major industrial power has ever survived 
without a strong automobile industry.
  First of all, auto production is essential for our domestic economic 
security. Automobiles built the middle class in America, and they made 
possible the greatest economic and continental expansion the world has 
ever seen.
  Secondly, auto production is essential for our national defense. When 
President Obama talks about the future symbol of America's success, he 
is talking about my district, including Toledo, as well as Sandusky and 
Lorain, but also Cleveland and Youngstown and, of course, Detroit. Why? 
Because we have been sowing the seeds for the rebirth of the American 
automobile industry in these communities and especially in my hometown 
of Toledo--that is, until Wall Street hit us with a blunt mallet.
  Mr. Speaker, Toledo is looking forward to a visit tomorrow by Dr. Ed 
Montgomery, the President's auto czar. He will visit Dayton as well as 
our hometown. In Toledo, we are going to tell him the story of 
automobiles and what they mean to America. We'll tell him how Toledo 
has been making cars for over 100 years, starting with an entrepreneur 
named John North Willys, who founded an auto company in Toledo that 
became Willys-Overland, later owned by Kaiser, then by Chrysler.
  Willys-Overland is a perfect example of the importance of automobiles 
in America. Willys was the second largest carmaker in America from 1912 
to 1918--only Ford was larger--and then it took off when it won a 
spirited national competition, which we should repeat, to build the 
rough-and-ready vehicle that General George C. Marshall wanted for U.S. 
troops in the war. That vehicle was the Jeep.
  When President Obama talks about an emblem of the American spirit, he 
could have been talking about the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, because 
nowhere else did the American spirit manifest itself more 
magnificently. When World War II started, the United States was caught 
flatfooted. When Hitler invaded Poland, the United States had the 16th 
largest army in the world, just ahead of Bulgaria. If not for our 
domestic automobile platform, America could not have mobilized its 
industrial might to turn back Adolf Hitler and save the world.
  Toledo workers, my friends and family and, indeed, their parents 
answered our Nation's call and turned out hundreds of thousands of 
Jeeps during World War II. Men and women alike, they helped win the 
war, and they were proud of their contribution and deserved to be.
  The goodwill alone associated with the Jeep brand name is still magic 
today around the world.
  We'll tell Dr. Montgomery how the Toledo factory is today the most 
modern and efficient, indeed, the most innovative in the Chrysler 
family, how it's a model for flexible manufacturing production and 
labor management relations across this continent. We'll tell Dr. 
Montgomery that Toledo, Ohio, will be what President Obama calls ``the 
future system of America's success'' as the home, not only of Chrysler 
innovation and efficiency, but of General Motors' new green, six-speed 
transmission plant that won the Harbour & Associates' top ranking for 
productivity for 5 straight years and that it is poised to lead the way 
in America for the fuel-efficient and low-polluting vehicles of the 
future.
  We'll tell Dr. Montgomery how the University of Toledo, through its 
clean and alternative energy incubator, is leading the way in research 
and development and in the commercialization of green power, including 
for vehicles, and how the University of Toledo Transportation Center is 
focusing on economic development through transportation, research and 
education.
  Detroit will always be Motown and the Motor City, but the rebirth of 
the American automobile industry will happen in places like Toledo, 
where our legacy leads us to innovate, to create, to collaborate, and 
to meet the challenges of a new century and to build a new symbol of 
America's success. Frankly, it's time for a new national competition, 
for the rough-and-ready vehicles of the future. We know those will be 
built in Toledo, Ohio.

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