[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 84 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6239-S6240]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ``CAR CZAR'' AWARD

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I am here to present the ``Car Czar'' 
award for Monday, June 8, 2009. It is a service to taxpayers from 
America's newest automotive headquarters: Washington, DC.
  This is the first in a series of ``Car Czar'' awards to be conferred 
upon Washington meddlers who distinguish themselves by making it harder 
for the auto companies your government owns to compete in the world 
marketplace.
  Today's ``Car Czar'' award goes to Congressman Barney Frank of 
Massachusetts for interfering in the operation of General 
Motors. Congressman Frank is chairman of the Financial Services 
Committee of the House of Representatives. One might call it the 
``House Bailout Committee.'' Congressman Frank's phone call to General 
Motors always is likely to be returned since the U.S. Treasury recently 
purchased 60 percent of GM and 8 percent of Chrysler with $62 billion 
of your tax dollars.

  According to the June 5 Wall Street Journal:

       The latest self-appointed car czar is Massachusetts's own 
     Barney Frank, who intervened this week to save a GM 
     distribution center in Norton, Mass. The warehouse, which 
     employs some 90 people, was slated for closing by the end of 
     the year under GM's restructuring plan. But Mr. Frank put in 
     a call to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and secured a new lease on 
     life for the facility.

  The Congressman's spokesman said that Mr. Frank was ``just doing what 
any other Congressman would do'' in looking out for the interests of 
his constituency--precisely the reason for these ``Car Czar'' awards. 
As the journal put it:

     . . . that's the problem with industrial policy and 
     government control of American business. In Washington, every 
     Member of Congress now thinks he's a czar who can call ol' 
     Fritz and tell him how to make cars.


[[Page S6240]]


  I will continue to confer ``Car Czar'' awards until Congress and the 
President enact my Auto Stock for Every Taxpayer legislation which 
would distribute the government's stock in General Motors and Chrysler 
to the 120 million Americans who paid taxes on April 15. That is the 
fastest way to get ownership of the auto companies out of the hands of 
meddling Washington politicians and back into the hands of Americans 
and the marketplace.
  It also may be the fastest way for Congressmen to get themselves 
reelected. According to the National Tennessean, an AutoPacific survey 
reports that 81 percent of Americans polled ``agreed that the faster 
the government gets out of the automotive business, the better.'' And 
95 percent disagreed ``that the government is a good overseer of 
corporations such as General Motors and Chrysler.'' And 93 percent 
disagreed ``that having the government in charge of (the two 
automakers) will result in cars and trucks that Americans will want to 
buy.''
  There should be plenty of material for these ``Car Czar'' awards. For 
example, last week auto executives spent 4 hours testifying before 
congressional committees about dealerships. I assume the executives 
drove to Washington, DC, from Detroit in their congressional approved 
modes of transportation--probably hybrid cars--leaving them very little 
time on that day to design, build or sell cars and trucks.
  I have counted at least 60 congressional committees and subcommittees 
with the authority to hold hearings on auto companies, and no doubt 
most will. Car executives trying to manage complex companies will be 
reduced to the status of some Assistant Secretary hauling briefing 
books between subcommittees answering questions--under oath, of 
course--about models, sizes, paint colors, plant closings, fuel 
efficiency, and why the GM Volt's battery is being made in South Korea.
  And should Congressmen run out of reasons to meddle, the President 
and his aides stand ready. Already, the administration has warned 
General Motors it is making too many SUVs and that its Chevy Volt is 
too expensive. The President himself has weighed in on whether General 
Motors should move to Warren, MI, and has fired one president of 
General Motors.
  Now, here is an invitation for those who may be listening: If you 
know of a Washington ``Car Czar'' who deserves to be honored, please e-
mail me at CarA[email protected], and I will give you full 
credit in my regular ``Car Czar'' reports here on the floor of the 
United States Senate.
  And after you write to me, I hope you will write or call your 
Congressmen and Senators and remind them to enact the Auto Stock For 
Every Taxpayer Act just as soon as General Motors emerges from 
bankruptcy. All you need to say when you write or call are these eight 
magic words, ``I paid for it. I should own it.''
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Wall Street Journal 
editorial from June 5, entitled ``Barney Frank, Car Czar'' be printed 
in the Congressional Record at this time.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2009]

                         Barney Frank, Car Czar

       President Obama may have ``no interest'' in running General 
     Motors, as he averred Monday. But even if that's true, we are 
     already discovering that he shares Washington with 535 
     Members of Congress, many of whom have other ideas.
       The latest self-appointed car czar is Massachusetts's own 
     Barney Frank, who intervened this week to save a GM 
     distribution center in Norton, Mass. The warehouse, which 
     employs some 90 people, was slated for closure by the end of 
     the year under GM's restructuring plan. But Mr. Frank put in 
     a call to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and secured a new lease on 
     life for the facility.
       Mr. Frank's spokesman, Harry Gural, says the Congressman 
     discussed, among other things, ``the facility's value to 
     GM.'' We'd have thought that would be something that GM might 
     have considered when it decided to close the Norton center, 
     but then a call from one of the most powerful Members of 
     Congress can certainly cause a ward of the state to 
     reconsider what qualifies as ``value.'' A CEO who refuses the 
     offer can soon find himself testifying under oath before 
     Congress, or answering questions from the Government 
     Accountability Office about his expense account. To that 
     point, Mr. Henderson spent Wednesday with Chrysler President 
     Jim Press being castigated by the Senate Commerce Committee 
     for their plans to close 3,400 car dealerships. Every Senator 
     wants dealerships closed in someone else's state.
       As Mr. Gural put it, Mr. Frank was ``just doing what any 
     other Congressman would do'' in looking out for the interests 
     of his constituents. And that's the problem with industrial 
     policy and government control of American business. In 
     Washington, every Member of Congress now thinks he's a czar 
     who can call ol' Fritz and tell him how to make cars.

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont is 
recognized.

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