Reps. Waxman and DeGette Call for Action in Response to Republican Findings on NHTSA Role in GM Recall
Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette released the following statement today on the Committee Republicans’ report on the role of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the GM ignition switch recall:
“This report correctly identifies a number of key opportunities where NHTSA officials could have acted to recall the defective GM vehicles. NHTSA has rightly been criticized for these missed opportunities.
“But the report almost completely ignores the role played by GM. GM had the same information as NHTSA – but also knew much, much more. GM allowed the defective switch to be installed in these vehicles; for over a decade, the company had the opportunity and responsibility to take action to fix this deadly problem - yet failed to do so. The fault here lies squarely with GM.
“Going forward, our top priority is meaningful congressional action to help make the driving public safer. The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2014 would provide NHTSA with more resources, hold the agency to a higher standard of accountability, and make vehicle data and agency actions more transparent so that safety problems could be identified and rectified quickly. But Republicans have not acted on this or any auto safety legislation.
“There is still time to improve auto safety in this country and to demand more from both car companies and regulators. Republicans should act quickly to pass legislation that solves the auto safety problems they identified in their report.”