[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 83 (Thursday, June 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H6243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GENERAL MOTORS AND HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DINGELL. We all know the terrible situation in the auto industry 
and in the Nation in general. On Monday, General Motors filed for 
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I know that GM will emerge from the court poised 
to again lead the world in the automotive sector, but the process will 
be painful. The company will cut 21,000 employees, 34 percent of its 
workforce; and this does not include elimination of 2,600 more dealers. 
Furthermore, it comes on the heels of Chrysler's layoffs and 
downsizing.
  Unfortunately, this problem is not at an end. A recent study for the 
Center for Automotive Research shows that when you include jobs losses 
from suppliers and other companies tied to GM and Chrysler, we could 
see 250,000 jobs, or more, lost over the next 19 months.
  This week GM announced they are closing the Willow Run transmission 
plant in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, in my district, along with 13 
other plants, six of them in Michigan. By 2010, 1,110 more GM workers 
will lose their jobs in my district. This is associated with not just 
loss of jobs and retirement, but loss of comprehensive health care for 
our people. This becomes now a major reason for us to pass major health 
care reform and a greater reason to see to it that we address this 
problem of health care reform and legacy costs so that our industry 
will not be destroyed.

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