Washington, D.C. – Congressman Gary Peters, whose District is home to Chrysler World Headquarters, released the following statement today following President Obama’s remarks on the future of Chrysler and General Motors:

“Today the president announced further short term assistance for General Motors and Chrysler, and outlined a process for the auto manufacturers and stakeholders to continue the difficult work of restructuring these companies. 

“The success of that restructuring is in large part dependent on debt holders’ willingness to cooperate with automakers and President Obama’s aggressive support in making that happen.  Make no mistake—in Chrysler’s case, some of these debt holders are financial institutions that exist today only because of government support.  Yet they now stand hypocritically unwilling to cooperate with the government to help maintain an American auto industry. 

“The president said today that he will ‘ensure that the full resources of our federal government are leveraged to assist the workers, communities, and regions that rely on our auto industry.’  The best way to do that is to use every tool at his disposable to get debt holders to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with automakers.  The president has offered General Motors and Chrysler more time, but time alone isn’t enough.  The real test will be whether President Obama uses this time to support the auto companies as they strive to achieve the lofty objectives his task force has demanded.

“Moving forward, we must take further action to protect suppliers and dealers, ensure credit is available in the consumer auto markets and take strong action to stimulate demand for new cars.  I will also fight in Congress to undertake major efforts to support our region and the families of laid-off workers. 
“It is clear that the president will expect further sacrifices from all parties.  General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner committed three decades of his life to GM and served his company faithfully.  The fact that Mr. Wagoner put the future of his company first is commendable and is a sign of his personal commitment to the future of GM.”