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Washington, Dec 14, 2005 -

Following a recent tour of the Brook Park Ford Plant, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) sent the following letter to the Chairman of the Ford Motor Company promoting the plant and its importance to the Cleveland-area economy:

William Clay Ford, Jr.
Chairman
Ford Motor Company
One American Road
Dearborn, Michigan  48126

Dear Mr. Ford:

As the U.S. Representative of Ohio’s 10th Congressional District, which includes the cities of Brook Park and Walton Hills, I am writing to report to you about the efforts of the community to come together and to support the continued operation of Ford’s production facilities.
 
In the past 7 weeks, I have hosted two Auto summits.  In these meetings, I have heard testimony from members of the community, including workers on the line, retirees, policy experts and officials at the local, county, state, and federal levels of government.  In addition, as a show of unity, every member of the Ohio Congressional delegation signed a letter to you expressing their support for Ford.  I can tell you that we all share the goal of supporting Ford to keep our factories open. 

I also had the opportunity to tour Ford’s engine plants in Brook Park.  What I found were dedicated workers who enjoy, and are proud of, their jobs.  They work hard and make an excellent product.  There is great comradeship among the workers and they know they are on a winning team.  As you know, the plant makes engines for the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, which received the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest safety rating.  I am currently arranging to tour the Walton Hills facilities and look forward to meeting the workers there.

The people of Northeast Ohio are keenly aware of how important the facilities at Brook Park and Walton Hills are to Ford and to the community.  We are proud that Ford recently invested $90 million in new state-of-the-art cupolas.  These will take coke, scrap iron, and other chemicals to create new metal for casting Ford’s engine blocks, bearing caps, and crank shafts.  Not only will Ford and its workers benefit from this investment, but the people of Northeast Ohio will enjoy the cleaner air resulting from these environmentally sound improvements.

And, over decades, we have consistently supported the building and maintenance of northeast Ohio’s superior infrastructure for manufacturing.  Ample rail, highway and airport facilities exist to supply materials and move product. 

I invite you or your representative to meet to discuss Ford’s present and future in Northeast Ohio.  Ford’s Brook Park engine and casting plants, and its Walton Hills stamping plant, are modern, efficient and geared toward Ford’s future.  The people of Northeast Ohio look forward to a mutually beneficial future with Ford.  I look forward to discussing this further with you.

 
Sincerely,
Dennis J. Kucinich
Member of Congress

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