House Proceeding 05-12-09 on May 12th, 2009 :: 1:44:05 to 2:40:30
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1:44:02 to 1:44:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: science and economy on the floor as we prepare to move this legislation forward. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, the gentleman from ohio, mr. latourette, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the

1:44:05 to 2:40:30( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Steven C. LaTourette

1:44:23 to 1:44:45( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: minority leader. mr. latourette: thank you very much, mr. speaker. tonight i return to talk about an old topic and also something that's happened in the last couple of weeks. the speaker may recall that a number of weeks ago there was outrage at both ends of pennsylvania avenu determined that located within

1:44:46 to 1:45:06( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the 79 -- $792 billion stimulus bill, there was a provision that authorized $173 million in bonuses to executives at the insurance company a.i.g. and at the time, a number of us thought, well, how could that happen? and it seems, just to review,

1:45:07 to 1:45:27( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: mr. speaker, that when the stimulus package was considered on the other side of the capitol in the united states senate, two senators in a rare display of bipartisanship, senator snow of -- a republican of maine, and senator wyden, a democrat of oregon, offered an amendment that would hav

1:45:28 to 1:45:48( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and indicated that if you were a firm like a.i.g. that's received billions and billions of dollars in bailout money, perhaps there should be restrictions on executive compensation and what people should make. a funny thing happened, however, on the way to the conference committee.

1:45:49 to 1:46:09( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and the snow-wyden language removed and instead paragraph was inserted. now this paragraph, you read it carefully, mr. speaker, indicates that rather than

1:46:10 to 1:46:30( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: placing restrictions on the bonuses, it specifically authorizes and exempts any bonus at a.i. or anybody else, any other wall street giant that received billions and billions of taxpayer money, any executive compensation scheme entered into before february 11 of this year, which happened to be the date that the stimulus package was

1:46:31 to 1:46:51( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: considere and the bonuses would be pai now, i have indicated a number of times on the floor that i know a lot of people were embarrassed by that. i would suggest that that's what happens when you legislate in a sloppy, rushed, haphazard, nonpartisan fashion. speak -- the speaker will

1:46:52 to 1:47:13( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: recall, the week of the consideration of the stimulus bill, the members of the republican party, the minority party, put forward so of a novel proposition. that was, since we were talking about spending $792 billion in a stimulus bill, it might be a good idea if members had 48 hours to read the bill.

1:47:14 to 1:47:36( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and further suggested that it should be put on the internet so anybody in america could take a look at this over 1,000 pages of legislation. well, that proposal passed. it came to a vote here in the house. and every member who was present that day, republican or democrat, voted and agreed that that was a good idea, we should

1:47:37 to 1:47:57( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: have 48 hours to read the bill. that was tuesday. on thursday, apparently the majority leadership forgot about the vote on tuesday and the was filed about midnight on thursday. the next morning, and i've apologized to my constituents that i didn't read the 1,000 pages at midnight, it didn't come to my attention at we had

1:47:58 to 1:48:18( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: 1,000-page bill we were going to consider on friday until i arrived at the office that morning. the debate was 90 minutes and members, both republican and democrats, had 90 minutes to digest 1,000 pages and determine whether or not that piece of legislation deserved an up or a down vote. it was a bipartisan vote in that

1:48:19 to 1:48:39( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: every member of the republican caucus, conference, voted against the stimulus bill, together with some democrats. but the overriding majority of the democratic party voted in favor of it and it passed and it went on to be signed by the president of the united states. what is strange is that everyone

1:48:40 to 1:49:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: who voted for the stimulus bill, voted for this paragraph that authorized the bonuses to a.i.g. yet, the next day, or days after the bonuses were announced, everybody was coming to the floor with -- beating their est, pulling out their hair, saying, i'm shocked. i can't believe it.

1:49:01 to 1:49:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i don't know how this happened. we want our money back. well, nobody should have been surprised. nobody suld have been shocked. because anyone who supported the stimulus package in the house or senate ved to -- the final conference report, voted to specifically allow a.i.g. and anybody else that had received billions of collars of taxpayer money and bailouts to receive

1:49:23 to 1:49:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: those bailout payments. but people were shocked. so they came up with -- i'll call them goofy. they came up with goofy pieces of legislation in an attempt to cover their political rear ends. and so the first one was, let's tax those bonuses at 90%. what a dumb piece of legislation that was, mr. speaker.

1:49:45 to 1:50:07( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i mean, so, tomorrow we decide we're mad at somebody else, maybe tomorrow we're mad at, you know, the oil companies. let's tax them at 90%. day after that, we're not really happy with the airlines, let's tax them at 90%. to use the tax code to punish a small group of people when the mistake was made when this

1:50:08 to 1:50:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: paragraph was inserted in the stimulus package is inappropriate d thankfully, the president of the united states, president obecause marx expressed his opinion that it wasn't a worthy piece of legislation and it's died a natural death over in the united states senate where it exactly should have. the next dumb idea that people

1:50:30 to 1:50:50( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: came up with was, i know, let's not tax these bonuses at 90%. let's have the united states treasury, the government tell people how much money they can make. what a dumb idea that is. now, listen, today it's the a.i.g. guys, tomorrow let's say that we are not so crazy about

1:50:51 to 1:51:11( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the amount of money that bus drivers make. why doesn't the government, the department of transportation, secretary lahood, figure out what the bus drivers in the country should make. another cover your rear end piece of legislation. so in response to all this, we have been coming to the floor on a semiregular basis to try and determine, becauseo one, even

1:51:12 to 1:51:32( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: though everybody was outraged, no one will say how the first language was removed from the bill and how this paragraph was placed in the bill. so we have devised a game that most americans are are familiar

1:51:33 to 1:51:54( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: with, the game of clue, great game, i recommend that everyone think about running out to hasbro to get the original edition or is edition. this is the case of the hidden hand. that is, who took out the snow-wyden amendment and who wrote that paragraph i had displayed on the chart before?

1:51:55 to 1:52:17( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: now, there are a number of suspects. we've taken some out, put some in, but if you read the news reports of the final gokeses on the stimulus bill we know that it either happened in the speaker's office or the conference room. there was a shuttle diplomacy going back and forth as to what the final bill was going to look like. as a matter of fact, the

1:52:18 to 1:52:38( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: distinguished chairman of the wamse committee, mr. rangel of new york, -- of the ways and means committee, mr. rangel of new york, said it's really difficult to get things done when three people run the institution. we excluded chairman rangel, he's not the hidden hand, he didn't do it.

1:52:39 to 1:52:59( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: we know it happened in the speaker's office or the conference room, and we know the weapon was the pen what we haven't figured out is who did it. it's pretty simple. think thing didn't appear from nowhere. and someone had to actually say to the drafters of the document,

1:53:00 to 1:53:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: take out snow-wyden and put in what's commonly been referred to as the dodd amendment. put in the dodd amendment. we have asked repeatedly and we have asked everybody we can find, did you do it? and no one has answered the question, i did it, or why. so because we couldn't finish the game of clue on our own, we

1:53:22 to 1:53:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: embarked on another tack, about a month ago, i filed a resolution of inquiry, directed to the secretary of the treasury. it basically asked the treasury to provide to the united states congress all of the documents and communications with a.i.g. and others to try and figure out who the hidden hand was, how the do amendment got into the stimulus package.

1:53:47 to 1:54:07( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: . i want to recognize the chairman of the full committee of financial services, barney frank, said i'll do whatever you want me to do. do you want me to consider it? i said i would like you to consider it. chairman frank took it before

1:54:08 to 1:54:28( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the financial services committee and this is a little bit like the vote we had that we would have 48 hours to read the bill. the resolution of inquiry was called up. every republicannd every democrat voted for this resolution of inquiry and i'm thinking now we're going to get

1:54:29 to 1:54:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: someplace and figure out who the hidden hand is and who sought to protect the bonuses pa to a.i.g. and right before we broke a couple of weeks ago, chairman frank came to the floor, good to his word and filed the report and recommended that the financial services committ reported the bill favorably to

1:54:50 to 1:55:12( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the house. now, i thought surely we would have a debate on that. again, this wasn't a party-line vote. it wast close. it was 63 or 64-0. and i thought for sure that we would get this resolved and go down to the treasury and they could hand over the documents and be done with the game of

1:55:13 to 1:55:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: clue and solve whether or not it was the speaker, whether it was harry reid, the majority leader in the senate, whether it was mr. geithner, the new secretary of the treasury, whether it was the chief of staff to the president of the united states, mr. emanuel, because some press accounts indicated that before it could be removed, they had to get the approval of the white ouse.

1:55:34 to 1:55:55( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: who at the white house approved it? we've cleared chairman rangel. and a lot of fingers were pointed at senator dodd, the distinguished chairmanf the snet banking committee, perhaps he inserted it. what people have said at this moment in time, mr. speaker, is that secreta geithner called the head guy at a.i.g. and head

1:55:56 to 1:56:16( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: guy said, well, i have some legal problems with the bonuses, so we need to go forward, but nobody yet has come forward and said, i took the language out and i put the lang so i was happy when chairman frank reported the bill. and i thought, i know that the distinguished leader, majority

1:56:17 to 1:56:37( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: leader of the house, mr. hoyer of maryland, is going to call that bill up, we're going to debate it and vote on it. 63-0. all the republicans and democrats voted for it. i was sure it would sail through the house. but i've been waiting and waiting a month. and those folks -- i know you

1:56:38 to 1:57:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: know this, mr. speaker, but legislation can only come to the floor here in the house of representatives when it is authorized and called up by the majority leader, in this case, mr. hoyer of maryland. there is an exception to that. i waited for the bill to be calleup. i waited for debate. never happened. and so i filed about two weeks ago a rule.

1:57:01 to 1:57:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and today at the speaker's desk is a discharge petition to discharge that rule so we can have a debate and get down to brass tax and figure out who the hidden hand is and who decided that we should protect the a.i.g. bonuses when the company has gotten billions of

1:57:22 to 1:57:42( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: dollars of bailout money and why. i'm optimistic, there is a meeting tomorrow at 4:00 with the treasury department and they have been pretty cooperative and they're going to come over and hopefully we'll be able to resolve what it is we're seeking through the resolution of inquiry. i hope so. if not, i really hope that the

1:57:43 to 1:58:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: distinguished majority leader would call up this piece of legislation so we could have a debate and get on with it and solve this proem that outraged the president of the united states, it outraged members of congress, it outraged the public. this would help us figure out how to solve the problem.

1:58:05 to 1:58:25( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: what we hear is that we hav many important things to do that you're looking backwards. ok, we gave away billions of dollars in tarp money. we gave away and authorized $173 million and somehow, somebody in the dead of night inserted this language into the bill with a hidden hand.

1:58:26 to 1:58:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: but get over it, because we have important work to do in the house of representatives. and sadly, mr. speaker, we have heard that a lot since the beginning of the 110th congress, the last congress. and it's -- we voted today, i think every person in the united states needs to feel

1:58:47 to 1:59:08( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: comfortable because they will not go in and buy a new 44-cent stamp in a post office that hadn't been named by the house of representatives in the last two years. we spend a lot of time naming federal buildings and post offices. and this happened to us last

1:59:16 to 1:59:37( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: year, too. the speaker may remember that last summer, everybody was talking about not a.i.g. and bailouts, but everybody was talking about gas prices. and in many parts of the country, gas, for the first time in my lifetime, gallon of gasoline, went over $4 a gallon.

1:59:38 to 1:59:58( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: at that time we asked the new majority party could we have a debate and come up with an energyill and relieve some of the pain that people are experiencing at the pump. busy to get to that. and so a lot of republicans took to the floor during our august recess an

1:59:59 to 2:00:20( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the fact that we needed to do something. we needed to do all of the abov we needed to have clean coal technology. we needed to look at the re nubles, wind, solar, geo thermal, explore oil and natural gas in the united states. again, because it is the majority party that calls the tune in the house of

2:00:21 to 2:00:41( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: representative they are the only people that canall up legislation, that never happened. they said we're really busy and we don't have time to talk about gasoline. and a lot of us said, you know, january 29 of 2007, which was

2:00:42 to 2:01:02( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: about the beginning of the 110th congress when the voters, because we republicans done such a great job and threw us out, gas was $2.22. and rather than talking about energy, we passed a resolution congratulating the university of californiasanta clara

2:01:03 to 2:01:23( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: soccer team. you know, mr. speaker, i'm sure every parent and player on that soccer team are proud of what it is they accomplished, but not as important as the pain that our constituents were beginning to feel at the pump. but you could say, hey, it's only $2.22, what's the big

2:01:24 to 2:01:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: deal? maybe it's not a crisis. on september 5 of that year, gas goes up to $2.74. you say, i bet we're going to talk about gasoline prices and the national energy policy. that has to be something we're going to consider on the floor of the house of

2:01:45 to 2:02:06( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: represe when gas hits $2.74, the most important issue that the majority can bring up is national passport month. now, i like passports. i think passports should be honored, but gas is creeping up to $2.84. well, it begins to get more serious in february of 2008.

2:02:07 to 2:02:30( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: it hits $3.03. you know we are going to take this problem seriously, but on the day that the national average reached $3.03 a gallon, the most important piece of legislation that the majority could bring to the floor was to commend the houston dynamo soccer team for what they did.

2:02:31 to 2:02:52( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: we new the buzz word is, soccer mo. we had to get them not once, but twice. our two resolutions, when gas was $3.03 and when we started, they honored soccer folks. a big jump happens in the

2:02:53 to 2:03:14( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: spring of 2008, gas goes to $3.77. you think we're going to talk about gas. my phone was ringing off the hook and you know we're going to have a national energy bill -- there aren't disagreements. people were saying drill, baby, drill. all we wanted was a debate. gas hits $3.77.

2:03:15 to 2:03:37( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: you know we're going to have that debate in the house -- but not yet. i have to get longer fingernails.

2:03:38 to 2:04:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: on that day, gas hits $3.77, and on that day, we commemorate national train day. i think trains, we have made a big mistake in our country by not investing in passenger rail transportation, but when gas is $3.77, maybe we could come up with somhing better than national train day. we are out to memorial day last

2:04:01 to 2:04:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: year. $3.84 a gallon. and the most importa thing that the majority can give us is the great cats and rare canids act day. those are niles and tigers. and if you don't know what

2:04:22 to 2:04:42( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: theyit's a dog. on that day when our constituents were paying $3.84 a gallon to fill up their cars, we were recognizing dogs and cats. continues to go up as we get to june, $4.09.

2:04:43 to 2:05:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: it crefts for the first time, $4. you think we're going to debate it on the floor of the house of representatives? but, no,, on that day when the national average was $4.09, we declared 2008 the international year of sanitation. now some of the people back in

2:05:05 to 2:05:25( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: my district were not understanding this. they're saying, are you kidding me. we are paying $4.09 and declaring this the international year of sanitation? but it peaks out there on june 17, 2008, $4.14 a gallon. now clearly everybody in the country is screaming about energy.

2:05:26 to 2:05:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: all you have to do is turn on the television and see the talking heads. they're all talking about energy and why is gas so expensive. you know now we're going to get it. we have to have a national energy debate, what direction are we going to go in to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. 70% of the oil that we use in

2:05:47 to 2:06:03( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: this country is brought in from other countries. surely, we're going to do something about that. and i bet when i take this note off of june 17, the day that gas hits $4.14, i know we had a

2:06:14 to 2:06:36( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: debate on energy that day. no, it wasn't an energy debate on that particular day. we passed the monkey safety act. now, mr. speaker, i don't know anybody th wants unsafe monkeys. we should want safe munchingies in the united states of america -- monkeys.

2:06:37 to 2:07:01( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: do you think the most important issue facing the united states congress is the monkey safety act? well, it was to those who schedule the floor. so sadly, we thought that maybe people got it that that probably wasn't the best use of our time when gas was going through the roof.

2:07:15 to 2:07:35( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: well, this year, as the gentleman knows, we have had a big problem with unemployment, our nation is hurting. there are people who have lost their jobs and there are people who continue to lose their jobs. and so on january 6, which was the opening day of this 111th congress, we all got together and it's before president obama

2:07:36 to 2:07:57( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: took the oath of office, because we all know that that historic day was january 20, you have an unemployment rate that is beginning to climb, but as you see at the outside, by the time we get to the end, it's pretty significant.

2:07:58 to 2:08:19( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: well, january 6 is the opening day of the united states congress. january 20 is the day that president obama was inaugurated. and there you see unemployment had inched a little bit. you can't blame president obama. he was not even the presidt of the united states then, but the congress was in session

2:08:20 to 2:08:41( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: since january 6. that's when the new congress started. we elected speaker pelosi again to be the speaker of the house. we get to february 3, again the congress has been working hard for a month and you know that we're going to have some economic package to help alleviate the pain that's going on in this country where people

2:08:42 to 2:09:03( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: have lost their jobs. but on february 3, the most important thing that we could do here in the house was to pass a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of national teen dating. now i don't know whether that's teens are dating nationally or a national day of teen dating, but rather than talking about the pain that was being

2:09:04 to 2:09:24( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: experienced in communities all across the country, we recognized teen dating. now, again, like with the be safe. unemployment continues to rise. we get to february 10, hundreds lost their jobs and on that day , the best we can do here in

2:09:25 to 2:09:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the house is to commend sam bradford for winning the heisman trophy. i believe they should be proud of what their son has accomplished, but again unemployment continues to rise, hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs. but we're too busy to talk about that.

2:09:50 to 2:10:11( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: . now february 24, and you're going to notice a theme here, unemployment ctinues to go up. i know we're going to find a way to deal with the situation and find a way to help people who have lost their jobs. because the united states senate

2:10:12 to 2:10:32( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: didn't enact the monkey safety act last year, we called up the monkey safety act again. so for the second time in two years, we didn't have time to do an energy policy, we didn't have time to talk about unemployment. but we did have time in the house to pass the monkey safety act, not once, but twice.

2:10:33 to 2:10:53( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: unemployment continues to go up anybody is confused about the united states congress' commitment to animals, we passed the shark conservation act. and as an unemployment -- as unemployment continued to arc

2:10:54 to 2:11:15( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: out, i apologize for only going to march 12, because it's continued to rise since then, i bet we're going to talk about unemployment and how to help people back home. but on that day, we passed the resolution supporting pi day p-i.

2:11:16 to 2:11:36( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i thought it was p-i-e, pie, and i like pie a lot. but this pi is the mathematical 3.14 and rather than discussing a lot of things going on in the united states we felt it was necessary and the most important thing was to recognize pi and support pi day and we all did and we're all really happy that we did because the country is a

2:11:37 to 2:11:59( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: better place because we recognize pi on march 11. clue, i think that we have demonstrated mbe beweren't too busy to get to the resolution of

2:12:00 to 2:12:20( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: inquiry. maybe we weren't too busy to figure out how folks on wall street who sucked up billions and billions of taxpayer dollars paid into the treasury by hard working people all across the country, how through a drafting,

2:12:21 to 2:12:41( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: it wasn't an oversight, somebody intentionally put it in there, how they rewarded these people with $173 million of bonuses. all we want is for people to say, i did it, here's why i did it, then we can move on. but to indicate we're too busy to get to that question, i think

2:12:42 to 2:13:02( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: is not ok. mr. speaker, the second issue that brings me to the floor is last week and weeks before, the country was rocked with the announcement of the bankruptcy filing of chrysler.

2:13:03 to 2:13:23( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: a lot of people deserve credit. the president of the united states deserves credit. his auto task force deserves credit, the workers at the chrysler plants across the country, the ownership, the employee the white collar employees, all deserve credit for making concessions and attempting to work it out.

2:13:24 to 2:13:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the italian automaker fiat had been courted, the president said you've got 30 days to work out a deal with fiat or bad things will happen. fiat stepped up to the plate. a week ago wednesday, this is where really, this is baffling

2:13:45 to 2:14:05( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: to me. but a week ago wednesday, the united autoworkers members went to their local union halls to determine whether or not to ratify an agreement making these concessions so that the chrysler deal could move forward either in or out of bankruptcy and fiat

2:14:06 to 2:14:28( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: could purchase those assets out of bankruptcy if that's the way it went. you may remember that there were a number of bondholders, people that held the paper for chrysler and most of them agreed to negotiate what it is they were owed. there were some that did not. so the only route left was to go into bankruptcy and fiat now

2:14:29 to 2:14:50( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: will purchase chrysler's assets out of bankruptcy. but all of the autoworkers that work for chrysler went to the union hall and voted whether or not to accept these pretty big concessions. and it passed. and as a matter of fact, i have a chrysler facility in my

2:14:51 to 2:15:14( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: district, the 14th district of ohio, it's the twinsburg stamping plant, those approximately 1,200 union workers went to vote on wednesday and 88% of them voted to approve the concessions that were being asked of them.

2:15:22 to 2:15:42( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and a couple of things. the paragraph, mr. speaker, that's on the' zell now -- on the easel now behind me if you look at the agreement between autoworkers and chrysler, there was a specific provision. the president of local 122 in twinsburg, doug re, deserves a lot of credit.

2:15:43 to 2:16:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: if you look at the stamping plant in twinsburg, they were stamping parts for an assembly facility in newark that was not going to be utilized anymore system of recognizing that there may be a downturn and that people may use that downturn as an excuse to shutter the facility, doug rice specifically

2:16:05 to 2:16:25( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: negotiated a paragraph that is labeled twinsburg stamping plant and mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert pagfour of the u.a.w. agreement into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. latourette: thank you, mr. speaker. this paragraph indicates that

2:16:26 to 2:16:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: during these discussions chrysler agreed to review the long-term utilization plan, the company will consider investment costs and current market demand in determining the plant's suitability for placing nonstamping work in the facility at tier two rates to keep it

2:16:47 to 2:17:09( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: viable. what the people think their president negotiated was provision that, ok, we have tough times here in twinsburg but now, the company has agreed that we're going to look at ways to bring other work to twinsburg. so they went to vote a week ago wednesday and 88% of local 122

2:17:10 to 2:17:31( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: voted to approve the contract. then sadly for those folks, the sun came up on thursday, a week ago thursday. and my day was a lot like the day of other members of congress who have chrysler facilities in their distri. the first thing that happened was that we had a conference call, if you wanted to

2:17:32 to 2:17:52( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: participate work president obama's automobile task force and on the phone was ron blum, the head of it, larry summers who is the president's financial advisor, maybe a couple more and members of congress and governors and other people who were interested were in on the call. the notes i ok contemporaneous

2:17:53 to 2:18:14( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: with that telephone call, it began with, this is a good day for crisler and the people that work -- for chrysler and the people that work there. they went on to describe how the bankruptcy would work, basically what i described before, because some bondholders wouldn't come to the table, we had to go the bankruptcy route, but fiat was

2:18:15 to 2:18:35( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: going to purchase chrysler out of bankruptcy and we were going to move on. i thought -- i know that i understood that that meant that the plants were going to stay open. we did hear that there's going to be some idling, which they said at 1:00 when you talk to chrysler, chrysler will tell you what that idling is. but no indication of plant

2:18:36 to 2:19:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: closures, no indication of job losses and so we'll move on. at noon at the white house, and it's a prettyamous picture now, the president of the united states, president obama, made the announcement at 12:00, a week ago thursday, about chrysler. and like many americans and

2:19:01 to 2:19:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: certainly many people who work at chrysler president of the united states said on april 30 of this year at the white house. no one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means. it will not disrupt the lives of the people who work at chrysler

2:19:23 to 2:19:44( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: or live in communities that depend on it. that's a pretty clear observation. i understood it. and then at 1:00, the former c.e.o. of chrysler, mr. nardelli, had another conference in which anybody who had questions or wanted to hear from the head of chrysler, could

2:19:45 to 2:20:05( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: participate. i asked a question about the supply chain, would suppliers be paid. but the first question during that call came from the governor of the state of michigan, ms. grant home. i thought she asked a really great question. she said when the president made this announcement, he said it's

2:20:06 to 2:20:28( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: a great day, words to that effect, we're going to be able to save 30,000 jobs. the governor asked mr. this is great work, nicely done, we're very proud of you, but i just want to ask a question, i want to make sure that when the president of the united states said 30,000 jobs, he wasn't speaking in code.

2:20:29 to 2:20:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: beuse there are about 39,000 people that work for the chrysler car company in the united states of america. and after a lot odiscussion about how many people were worldwide and all this other business, no, the president wasn't speaking in code. the jobs are safe. the plants are safe. now, i left that phone call

2:20:50 to 2:21:10( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: feeling pretty good. and as a matter of fact, i called my communications director and i said, hey, put out a press release praising president obama, praising his task force and p people that made sacrifices as chrysler because this is a pretty good day. no prant -- no plants are closing, nobody's losing their

2:21:11 to 2:21:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: jobs and we're going to move on. well, sadly, let me just go back to that phone call and express a disappointment. i know that the folks at chrysler under -- are under a great deal of pressure today. but that phone call, when we got on the phone call, you had to agree and understand that the phone call was being taped.

2:21:34 to 2:21:54( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: so what i just kenchesed about the governor of michigan would have been tape recorded on that telephone call. we also had a democratic member of congress on the phone from wisconsin. and it's representative gwynn moore of mauck.

2:21:55 to 2:22:18( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: she asked directly about -- of milwaukee. she asked directly about the future of the kenosha, wisconsin, engine plant which employees 800 people. but for some reason are, mr. nardelli, now says he made a mistake and confused kenosha with a plant in trenton, but in responding to congresswoman

2:22:19 to 2:22:40( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: moore he said, i mistakenly con vayed the status of the plant in trenton, michigan, not even the same state. kenosha, wisconsin, andrenton, michigan. the facts that i described were accurate and he basically told congresswoman moore they loved the plant, everything was good, everything would be ok.

2:22:41 to 2:23:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: like my folks in twinsburg, ohio, i assumed that the 800 autoworkers in kosha, wisconsin that went to the ballot box to determine whether or not they would voluntarily reduce their compensation and benefits thought that that meant that they would continue to have jobs. but that tned out not to be the case.

2:23:05 to 2:23:26( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: later that afternoon, buried in the voluminous bankruptcy file big chrysler which was anticipated was the fact that at first five, and then reporters dug out eight, chrysler plants across the country were scheduled to be closed on a sliding schedule. in the case of twinsburg in 2010

2:23:27 to 2:23:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and roughly 9,000 autoworkers that work for chrysler would be out of jobs and their plans would be closed. and you know, imagine my surprise, among other people, and the fellow from chrysler called and apologized, he said, we're sorry to communicate that in that way we wish we could have done it another way.

2:23:50 to 2:24:10( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i said, listen, who knew that these plants were going to be closed? and if you're an autoworker in twinsburg, ohio, why vote for a contract that meant you weren't going to have a job? if you were an autoworkers in fenton, missouri, or sterling heights, michigan, why vote for a contract that meant that you weren't going to have a job

2:24:11 to 2:24:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: anymore. it didn't make sense. andal althou nice, we have a situation where 39,000 autoworkers went into the ballot box believing that by approving this new contract and these concessions they were going to save the company and they were going to save their jobs. so i issued a second release and

2:24:34 to 2:24:54( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i said, i -- that's not what i heard on these conference calls, it's not what i heard from chrysler, not what i heard from the president's auto task force and it's not what i heard the president of the united states say on thursday. . the first response to my local

2:24:55 to 2:25:15( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: newspaper was, i was confused. so i immediately went out and bought one of those new miracle ears so i could understand things more clearly, but i began checking people's recollections and their recollection was the same as mine.

2:25:16 to 2:25:37( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i called chrysler and i said, i don't think i misunderstood, but i know that this telephone call was taped, because your contractor said at the beginning of the call, the call is going to be taped and if you don't want to be on a tape call, hang up and don't participate in the call. and i said, you know what? what really proved this is, why

2:25:38 to 2:26:01( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: don't you give me the tape. i said, not the tape, give me the transcript. they called back and said there is a transcript and the lawyers have to figure out whether or not you can have a transcript. and this was last wednesday. and today, i got kind of a ters letter that was a question

2:26:02 to 2:26:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: asked of my governor, governor strickland. but no transcript, no observations, no words that i know that they have that were spoken by governor granholm. no words that were spoken by representative moore of wisconsin either.

2:26:23 to 2:26:43( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: so i have to tell you it's a difficult conversation that we're having. the mayor, the mayor of twinsburg who is a wonderful mayor sent the head of the president's auto task force a note, and i got to tell you, he was very prompt in rponding

2:26:44 to 2:27:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: to her on may 6 and basically she was saying, i don't understand. i don't understand how we went from twinsburg's opening to twinsburg is now closed. mr. bloom in the operative section of the letter, which is the second full paragraph,

2:27:05 to 2:27:26( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: writes, while the original february 17 plan submitted by chrysler was not deemed viable by the task force, the more recently proposed fiat-chrysler alliance plan has been approved. this plan included the same plant closure schedule originally proposed and the president's comments were meant

2:27:27 to 2:27:51( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: bankruptcy of chryslehad in no way changed these plans. when the president spoke at noon a week ago on thursday and said no one should be confused about the bankruptcy, it will not disrupt the lives of the people who work at chrysler or whose lives depend on it, it was like in baseball where they

2:27:53 to 2:28:15( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: put an asterisk near the record and it would have been acceptable for him to say except for the eight plants not revealed to anybody in the february 17 plan, which we rejected. then everybody would have understood and would have known. when the leader of the free world stands up and says, it's not going to disrupt the lives of people who work for chrysler

2:28:16 to 2:28:37( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: or the communities who depend on it, i can tell you that 1,200 people work at the plant lives. and the city of twinsburg where it located, the chrysler plant is 13% of their tax base. not only the pain to individual families and loyyees, but it's

2:28:38 to 2:29:01( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: going to affect the schools, the police department, the fire service, garbage pickup. so i haverouble accepting this paragraph from mr. bloom that the president was just saying, listen, no lives are going to be disrupted unless we've already determined that

2:29:02 to 2:29:23( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: you're going to get the ax. they all point to this document that was rejected by the president's auto task force that was filed on the 17 of february. the problem with that argument -- so when people were saying i was confused, it was a simple misunderstanding, we went out

2:29:24 to 2:29:45( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and i read and my staff read the agreement that or the proposal that was filed by chrysler on february 17 that was rejected. and nowhere in this document, nowhere in the 177 pages is

2:29:46 to 2:30:06( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: there any indication that the plant in twinsburg was going to be closed, that the plant in ken osha or the plant in sterling heights, michigan was going to be closed. so i guess that when people say they voted for the contract and told the next day they were

2:30:07 to 2:30:28( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: going to lose their job should have known, the only way they could have known because everybody said we couldn't make it public, the only people who would have known are people with e.s.p., people who can read the minds of the president's task force and executives at chrysler, because clearly, nobody else could have

2:30:29 to 2:30:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: contemplated that these 9,000 people who voted in good faith to ratify a contract that reduced their benefits, reduced their pay could have said, listen, i'm voting to end my job. as a matter of fact, the president of local 122, mr. rice, will be here this week

2:30:50 to 2:31:11( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: and in conversations with me on the telephone said, look, we're shocked. i specifically negotiated this paragraph into the u.a.w.-cliceler agreement that said we're going to bring more work to twinsburg. you are going to get additio work to not having a job, i

2:31:12 to 2:31:34( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: don't understand why people are surprised that people are surprised. so clearly, mr. speaker, we've got a problem.

2:31:35 to 2:31:55( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: so in the theme since we have almost concluded the case of the hidden hand as to the a.i.g. bonuses got into the stimulus package, we have developed clue, the travel edition and this car with your kids and it's called the travel edition because we are talking about chrysler.

2:31:56 to 2:32:17( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: we don't have a pen. the perpetrator didn't alter the stimulus package with a pen. instead, he or she used an ax and used that ax to stop the employment of about 9,000 people who work in this country making automobiles. and as you see around the edge, of course in the top right, you

2:32:18 to 2:32:38( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: recognize the president of the united states, president obama and his economic adviser, mr. summers, the former c.e.o. of chrysler, mr. geithner makes an appearance, the secretary of the treasury and ron bloom, who was the head of the president's task force. i also, just for the benefit of

2:32:39 to 2:33:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: the speaker put a picture of president bush up there and you may ask why did i put president bush up there and i would just tell you there are some people in this country that blame president bush for everything. i wanted to make sure we had him as a potential suspect. but again, in this group -- and

2:33:01 to 2:33:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: i really don't think it was the president of the united states, president obama. but in this group between the president's automobile task force and mr. far de others at chrysler, somebody knew and i would suggest more than somebody knew that the bankruptcy filing, which was going to be filed a week ago

2:33:22 to 2:33:43( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: thursday afternoon had a provision in it to cease the livelihoods over time of eight chrysler plants employing about 9,000 people. the only problem -- the only problem with that is, they forgot to tell the 9,000 people.

2:33:44 to 2:34:05( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: they forgot to tell the people who were thinking that they were being good employees, good americans and agreeing voluntarily to a reduction in the amount of money they make, but the tradeoff was chrysler was going to survive and they would have jobs. so hopefully at the 4:00 meeting tomorrow with the

2:34:06 to 2:34:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: department of treasury, we will solve the case of the hidden hand and figure out how the a.i.g. bonuses were protected. we now embark on a new mission, and that is where -- we got the ax and the weapon out of the way, we have to identify what room it took place in and which one of these gentlemen and i

2:34:30 to 2:34:51( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: would remove the 43rd and 44th presidents of the united states, who knew and why didn't you tell anybody. and why did you let 9,000 people vote to end their jobs. now, we're going to continue to ask chrysler for a copy of that telephone call from 1:00 in the afternoon.

2:34:52 to 2:35:17( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: we are going to, if necessary, file another resolution of inquirey directed at the white house. but we will, i think, get to the bottom of mr. speaker, could i ask how much time there is? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio has about 10 minutes left. mr. latourette: i thank the speaker. and i will try not to take the last 10 minutes.

2:35:21 to 2:35:42( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: but again, mr. speaker, in a chart, i know sadly that what we will hear is, well, don't look forward, let's talk about rebuilding. let's talk about doing wonderful things. but before you can look forward, you need to look back and you need to find out what happened to these 9,000

2:35:43 to 2:36:04( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: hard-working americans that have manufactured american-made cars in some cases for many, many years. but i fear based upon our debate on energy prices, gasoline prices last summer and based upon our experience with the a.i.g. bonuses this year that we will again be told

2:36:05 to 2:36:27( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: we're too busy. we have post offices to name. we have to honor pi, the 3.14, the math formula. and this chart will be the last chart and the last observations i'll make. this chart indicates the number of people that work for chrysler that have lost their jobs from january 12 of this

2:36:28 to 2:36:48( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: year to this week. and so in january, 4,000 people at chrysler lost their jobs. and again, rather than figuring this thing o, we passed a resolution here in the house of representatives honoring the life of claiborne pell who was

2:36:49 to 2:37:09( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: a wonderful and great former u.s. senator, but didn't talk about chrysler. in february, now about 9,500 people have lost their jobs. and for a surprise revisit, we again, because the senate apparently didn't take it up last year, again passed

2:37:10 to 2:37:34( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: supporting the goals and ideals of national teen dating. so while people are losing their jobs at chrysler by the thousands, at least teen dating has been covered here in the congress. then we get still almost to the middle of march, you're now up to about 11,000 peop chrysler have lost their jobs

2:37:46 to 2:38:07( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: across the country and? monkey safety act makes a return appearance. and this time, you know there was a tragic accident where a pet monkey attacked a woman and really injured her, and so i don't make light of the fact that she will need serious medical attention and the monkey act is probably a decent

2:38:08 to 2:38:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: piece of legislation, but when you have 11,000 chrysler workers out of work, why are we passing the monkey safety act. in april, 13,000 jobs. and we'll do something for chrysler, but the rare cats and

2:38:30 to 2:38:50( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: great canids act comes back to the floor. and again, when 13,000 people are out of work,e talk about cats and dogs. and then just like with gas prices and the a.i.g. bonuses, i know the united states congress will not sit still while 16,000 of their

2:38:51 to 2:39:12( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: countrymen have lost their jobs. but the most important piece of legislation that the majority can schedule on the day th 16,000 people were now unemployed at chrysler, we awarded a gold medal to arnold palmer, the golfer. i think arnold palmer is a great american and deserved the goad medal. i don't know when you have

2:39:13 to 2:39:35( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: 16,000 chrysler workers out of work, why that's the most important issue that the majority can bring to the table. and now this week, that number is u it does not include the 9,000 people that voted the other day to terminate their jobs, but,

2:39:36 to 2:39:57( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: again, we have a repeat, 18,000 most important issue on the house floor, national train day. . madam speaker, we are not too busy to do this, as these charts clearly indicate. and the 9,000 workers and people

2:39:58 to 2:40:18( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: in communities all across america that will now see their tax bases decrease, people of work, deserve to know which one of these gentlemen, or do we have to add another suspect, which one of these gentlemen knew as they sent those people into the polling place to approve a concession contract, which one of these people knew

2:40:19 to 2:40:32( Edit History Discussion )

Steven C. LaTourette: that they were going to terminate their jobs, close their plants, and decimate their communities. and so, madam speaker, i look forward to returning on another day and continuing the adventure