When Defeat of Auto Loans Looked like an Inevitability, Rep. Peters got 108 Signatures from Democratic Congressmen and Rallied the Democratic Caucus to Stand Up and Defeat Speaker Boehner's Auto Job Killing Proposal

Washington, D.C. - Today the House finally passed a bill to fund emergency disaster relief without cutting $1.5 billion in proven job creating loans. This funding for the Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing (ATVM) loans has created or protected over 41,000 auto manufacturing jobs and has been credited by independent experts with moving production of the Ford Focus from Mexico to Michigan. At one point, this drastic cut to job creating auto manufacturing loans was all but assured, but Rep. Peters worked very hard to inform and unite the Democratic caucus against this job killing proposal and ultimately, Speaker Boehner's bill was defeated on the floor. Today the bill to fund the government and emergency disaster funding without cutting auto manufacturing loans passed the House by a vote of 352-66 and will now be sent to the White House to be signed into law.

“My number one priority is jobs in the Greater Detroit area and that's why I stood up and fought for this program which has created or protected 41,000 auto manufacturing jobs and brought the production of the Ford Focus from Mexico to Michigan,” said Rep. Gary Peters. “I worked very hard to forge a coalition to stop these job killing cuts from becoming law and we have won this fight. This is a victory for the folks that work hard every day at our auto manufacturing facilities and while I hope that the Republicans end their war on jobs, if they decide to attack American workers again, I'll keep fighting them.”

“It’s a victory that the House GOP leadership reversed course,” said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo who cowrote the original letter to Speaker Boehner with Rep. Peters. “Today’s CR does not harm the ATVM program, which has created or saved 41,000 jobs from California to Michigan to Ohio. The program is on-track to create at least another 35,000 jobs by year’s end.  Eliminating the ATVM program would have cost our country desperately-needed jobs.  American ingenuity, American manufacturing, and American fuel efficient cars were all on the chopping block.”

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.

September 23rd: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate would meet on the following Monday to work out a deal.

September 26th: Senator Reid worked out a deal that met the Republicans half way by agreeing to their requested spending level, but also eliminates the auto job killing cuts House Republicans have worked for. The agreement passed by a vote of 79-12.

October 4th: The House passes the Senate’s bill which funds the government and emergency disaster funding without cutting $1.5 billion in auto manufacturing funding by a vote of 352-66.

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