Senate Rejects Job Killing House Bill and Announces They Will Work on a Compromise Monday

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Gary Peters called on Speaker John Boehner to bring the House back into session on Monday. This morning, the Senate rejected Speaker Boehner's auto job killing plan by a bipartisan vote of 59-36. After stopping the bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called for a vote on an amendment to strike the provision cutting auto loans from the House passed bill on Monday. Shortly afterward, Rep. Peters issued the following statement:

“This morning a bipartisan group of Senators defeated Speaker Boehner's plan to kill auto jobs,” said Rep. Gary Peters. “Leader Reid has announced that the Senate will be back to work on Monday and I call on Speaker Boehner to bring the House back to do the same because we need to protect American auto workers, provide needed disaster relief and ensure the government continues to be funded.”

Timeline:

September 14th: Republicans release their $3.65 billion plan to fund the government from October 1st – November 16th. This includes funding to pay for disaster relief from Hurricane Irene, Lee and the east coast Earthquake. To pay for this bill, Republicans propose to cut $1.5 billion from the Section 136 auto loan program – a program which was established with bipartisan support in 2007.

September 15th: Rep. Gary Peters issues a press release calling on Republicans to drop their cuts of $1.5 billion in Section 136 auto loans which has been credited with creating over 40,000 jobs and literally bringing the production of the Ford Focus from Mexico to Detroit.

September 20th: Rep. Gary Peters and Rep. Anna Eshoo released a letter which was signed by 77 Democrats calling on Speaker John Boehner to eliminate these job killing cuts.

September 20th: Senate Leader Harry Reid announces at a press conference that he is “not going to cave in” to the Republicans on this issue.

September 20th: Letters of Endorsement from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Automotive Policy Council (Chrysler, Ford and GM) and MEMA (Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association).

September 20th: Letters of Endorsement from the BlueGreen Alliance, Clean Economy Network, Ecology Center, Environment America, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Safe Climate Campaign, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, United Auto Workers International and the United Steelworkers.

September 20th: Letter of Endorsement from the National Wildlife Federation.

September 21st: Because of the growing momentum, 31 more members of Congress signed onto the Peters-Eshoo letter bringing it to a new total of 108. You can read the signed version by clicking here.

September 21st: Rep. Peters spoke on the floor about the importance of protecting these auto manufacturing jobs.

September 21st: The House defeats the Continuing Resolution by a vote of 195-230.

September 22nd: The Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers announced their support for job creating Section 136 auto loans.

September 23rd: House Republicans passed their Continuing Resolution by a vote of 219-203.

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