As Submitted to the Congressional Record

Mr. President, I will support this legislation to provide financing to the U.S. auto industry because without this assistance millions of American jobs, and a fundamental part of our manufacturing base, will be jeopardized. In these difficult economic times, with unemployment increasing, we cannot afford to see these jobs disappear.

I understand that many people are upset about this rescue package. I, for one, am not happy to be running up still more charges on the taxpayers’ tab. And I appreciate the arguments that have been made that the automakers’ troubles are of their own making. Certainly some of their troubles are indeed of their own making, but not all of them. Some of the problems facing domestic automakers are the direct result of policies enacted or ratified in Washington.

The collapse of the housing and credit markets clearly hit the credit-sensitive auto industry hard, and we know that those problems in particular were not of the auto industry’s making. Far from it. They were the result of two decades of the reckless disassembly of a sound regulatory system, combined with some unscrupulous actions by many in the financial industry – a deadly combination that has now brought the entire economy to the brink of disaster including domestic auto producers.

And at the same time Washington was repealing strong financial regulations, bipartisan majorities in Congress, led by Democratic and Republican Presidents, were also advancing deeply flawed trade policies which have further disadvantaged the domestic auto industry. Currency manipulation by foreign competitors, too, has put our domestic firms, including the automakers, at an enormous competitive disadvantage. Combine that with the failure of our major trade agreements to establish reasonable standards for workers, public safety, and the environment, and the self-made problems of domestic auto producers are greatly magnified.

I will not defend the mistakes made by auto executives, but a significant amount of blame lies with federal policymakers who blindly embraced philosophies of deregulation and trade that undermined protections for working families, public safety, and the environment. In fact, some of the same people opposed to any temporary help for the automakers now were the ones who helped dig the hole in which that industry now finds itself.

More importantly, being angry at these companies’ past mistakes is no reason to permit the auto companies to go under at this time. To allow these companies to go into bankruptcy could prove to be a tremendous shock to our already weak economy and could end up costing the U.S. taxpayers even more in pension guarantees, unemployment benefits, and other costs.

And, Mr. President, we are not just talking about the jobs of the autoworkers at the U.S. auto plants, although those jobs are important. We are also talking about the millions of jobs in related industries including steelmakers, rubber companies, hundreds of other suppliers, parts manufacturers, car dealers, and other industries that would be negatively impacted if the U.S. auto companies went bankrupt.

Workers around Wisconsin are already struggling with the downturn in the auto industry and would be even harder hit if Congress fails to provide assistance to the auto industry. My hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin is proud home to the oldest GM plant and for over eighty years, generations of Janesville men and women have built cars and trucks for GM. The Janesville GM assembly plant has been the core of the community and surrounding area for decades by providing its workers with family-supporting jobs and contributing to the lifeblood of the community. Earlier this year, GM announced that it would cease production at the Janesville plant by the end the year. Despite this unwelcome news, the state of Wisconsin and the local community, including workers, business owners, union leadership, have all come together to propose a plan to encourage GM to retool the plant to build a future product line. I am so proud that stakeholders in Janesville and in Wisconsin have come together to try to keep these jobs in Wisconsin and I will continue to do all I can, along with others in the Wisconsin congressional delegation, to support their efforts to keep an auto presence in Janesville.

Janesville is not the only community in Wisconsin that is closely watching what we do in Congress this week. A Chrysler engine plant employs hundreds of people in Kenosha and various suppliers and related-manufacturers do business in communities throughout southeastern and southwestern Wisconsin. I have also heard from auto dealers representing communities all across Wisconsin about the need to provide assistance to the U.S. auto industry to help ensure that their businesses continue to provide jobs in these troubling times. I understand Americans want businesses to be held accountable for bad decisions they have made in the past, and I do not think the federal government should get in the business of bailing out every industry in need of help. But in this case, failure to provide assistance to the auto industry could cause such a horrible shock to the American economy and communities all across our country that we must take action.

While I think the federal government needs to act, any rescue package should not be a blank check and this particular rescue package contains various provisions to help ensure that the auto companies are held accountable for the federal financial assistance they receive. Unlike the Wall Street bailout that I voted against, this bill provides strict rules that the auto companies must follow in order for the companies to be eligible for federal assistance. The companies must negotiate with their employees, shareholders, creditors, and other parties to develop restructuring plans to show how these companies are going to reform themselves for the future, including improving their capacity to build the fuel-efficient vehicles that Americans are demanding. These restructuring plans are due within the first few months of 2009 and if they are not approved by the federal government, the auto companies will not be able to receive additional federal funding and will have to repay the federal assistance they have already received.

Mr. President, I would have preferred this money to come from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout that Congress passed earlier this year. I am disappointed that the Bush Administration refused to use its authority under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to provide financial assistance to the auto companies. Congress’s investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, testified before the Senate Banking Committee last week that the Bush Administration currently has the authority under TARP to provide this assistance. Secretary Paulson could have acted weeks ago to provide such assistance to the auto industry, yet he continues to refuse to take those steps, and allocate what amounts to a small percentage of the Wall Street bailout to help millions of working families in this country.

Because of the Administration’s refusal to use its existing authority to help the auto industry, Congress has been forced to act. Unfortunately, we have also been forced by the Administration to take money from the Sec. 136 Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program that was created last year to provide federal funding to auto companies and manufacturers to help them as they develop more fuel-efficient vehicles and related technology. This bill is far from perfect and one of my biggest concerns is that Congress has been compelled to raid the pot of money designed to help auto companies and parts manufacturers build more fuel-efficient cars in the future. Diverting the Sec. 136 money is going to further set back the work that the auto industry is doing to make their products greener and more marketable.

Everyone, including the U.S. auto industry, has acknowledged that U.S. auto companies need to start building more fuel-efficient vehicles. Furthermore, all of the U.S. auto companies have applied for loans under Sec. 136 and access to the Sec. 136 retooling funding is critical to their future success. Yet today we are taking this retooling money to pay for the short-term survival of these companies. This was a false choice and if the Administration had been more willing to work with us on this issue, we could have done both. Instead, by taking from the Sec. 136 program today we are engaging in extremely shortsighted policymaking. I will work with my colleagues to help ensure that funding for Sec. 136 is reinstated next year.

Mr. President, I regret that we find ourselves in this position today. I thank Senators Levin, Stabenow, and Dodd and their colleagues in the House of Representatives for putting together this legislation in very difficult circumstances. This bill is not perfect, but given the need for prompt action, I will support it and I urge my colleagues to do the same. We must act in order to help protect millions of American jobs from disappearing and to help prevent countless communities in Wisconsin and around the country from experiencing even more economic hardships in the short term. As the new Congress gets under way shortly, I look forward to helping develop longer-term policies to assist American industry as it responds to 21st century challenges so that it can continue to lead the world in innovation.