{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2008-12-12-pt1-PgS10970", "2008-12-12", 110, 2, null, null, "AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY CRISIS", "SENATE", "SENATE", "ALLOTHER", "S10970", "S10970", "[{\"name\": \"Ron Wyden\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"John F. Kerry\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "154 Cong. Rec. S10970", "Congressional Record, Volume 154 Issue 187 (Friday, December 12, 2008)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 187 (Friday, December 12, 2008)]\n[Senate]\n[Page S10970]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                       AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY CRISIS\n\n Mr. WYDEN. Yesterday, when I heard the majority leader was\ngoing to call a cloture vote, I changed my schedule and hurriedly\nreturned to Washington, DC, from Oregon, where I had been working on\nthe Oregon Business Plan at the Oregon Business Summit in Portland. I\nwas on an airplane, about an hour away from the Capitol, when the\nSenate Leader called the vote, and I missed the cloture vote on the $14\nbillion loan package for the U.S. automobile industry. It is my\nunderstanding that if my vote could have possibly made the difference,\nthe Leader would have waited for my plane to arrive, but I want it to\nbe noted that it was my intention to vote for cloture. While I continue\nto have concerns about ensuring that taxpayers are protected if this\nloan is to occur, I believe that if the President can unwisely provide\n$700 billion of taxpayer money for the investment banks that took\nhorribly unacceptable risks and helped trigger an economic collapse, we\ncertainly have a duty to attempt to preserve a cornerstone domestic\nindustry and the jobs of hundreds of thousands of working people whose\npersonal actions are in no way responsible for the current economic\ncrisis.\n Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I am extremely disappointed that the\nSenate was not able to pass legislation to make bridge loan funding\navailable to our country's automotive industry--not because I condone\nthe behavior of these companies in recent years which brought them to\nthe brink but because I believe allowing their failure at a time of\ngreat economic uncertainty could deal a serious blow to our national\neconomy.\n  The domestic automotive industry represents almost four percent of\nour Nation's gross domestic product and ten percent of our industrial\nproduction by value. One out of every 10 U.S. jobs is impacted by the\nU.S. automotive industry. GM, Ford and Chrysler account for roughly 65\npercent of U.S. auto production and support millions of jobs across all\n50 States. The Center for Automotive Research recently reported that in\nMassachusetts alone, the automobile industry accounts for more than\n28,000 jobs and $256 million in wages. The bridge loans that would have\nbeen made available through this legislation would have gone to protect\nnot only the jobs dependent on this industry but the American economy\nas a whole, which is suffering from a widespread liquidity crisis that\nextends well beyond the vital automotive sector.\n  I believe this critical moment presents an opportunity for the\nFederal Government and the automobile manufacturers to transform an\nindustry that has long resisted the changes that are so clearly\nnecessary for their continued global competitiveness. The assistance\nprovided in the bill was conditioned upon a commitment by the industry\nto use this money wisely to become more efficient market participants.\nThe legislation included important provisions that would help ensure\nAmerican taxpayers that this assistance is not used as a line of credit\nsimply to continue business as usual. The legislation also included\nimportant safeguards to limit executive compensation to ensure that\ntaxpayer funds are not wasted.\n  I was absent for the vote that occurred Thursday evening because--as\nthe incoming Foreign Relations Committee Chairman--I was representing\nthe Senate at ongoing international climate change negotiations being\nheld in Poznan, Poland. But I was prepared to return from Poland at a\nmoment's notice had we reached a bipartisan agreement or were my vote\nneeded to pass cloture and break a logjam. Instead, thanks to\nobstruction by the minority, the 110th Congress has come to a close,\nand the automobile industry teeters on the brink of collapse. In the\nabsence of Congressional action, I urge the President to tap the\nTroubled Assets Relief Program so that American automakers can access\nsufficient capital to survive in the short-term. I remain hopeful that\nthe 111th Congress will be a Congress of real economic progress and\nwill work to ensure that the American automobile industry remains\nglobally competitive in the long-term.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2008-12-12-pt1-PgS10970"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 15.849274932406843, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}