Washington, DC – Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey tonight issued the following statement on the proposed rescue and restructuring legislation of the US auto industry:

“As our nation faces one of the deepest recessions in decades the impact of allowing the auto industry to go bankrupt would make things even worse, having wide reaching and potentially devastating consequences on our recovery.  While no package is perfect, this proposal is an effort to enable these companies to undertake the drastic restructuring needed to increase their competitiveness and prevent the loss of millions of jobs.  There is no doubt that the leaders of the ‘Big Three’ bear much of the responsibility for this mess.  That’s why this proposal provides stringent oversight of the usage of taxpayer dollars and holds these companies, and their chief executives, accountable to taxpayers.”