Chrysler / GM Bankruptcy Videos
Highlights from the House Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations:
Auto Dealership Closures 06/12/09
The focus of this hearing was on dealership closures; however, several members of the Subcommittee raised concerns about the handling of liability claims under the terms of the bankruptcies. In the video below, Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) recommends the Committee investigate the lack of provisions for product liability claims.
The video below contains Representative Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) opening statement, in which she speaks to the importance of how the bankruptcies will affect injury and liability claims, and she suggests the Committee should examine the issue in the future.
In the video below, Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) states that responsibility going forward for defects is a critical aspect of the bankruptcies that requires examination.
Highlights from the Senate Banking Committee hearing:
The State of the Domestic Automobile Industry 06/10/09
In the video below Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) questions the Treasury Department’s senior advisor on the auto industry, Ron Bloom, about the provision in the GM bankruptcy that allows it to walk away from automotive defect liability cases at the Senate Banking Committee June 10th hearing on “The State of the Domestic Automobile Industry: Impact of Federal Assistance.” Bloom calls the plight of victims emotional “for them,” but says that GM made promises to a lot of people they won’t be able to keep.
In the video below Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) recounts the story of a constituent paralyzed in a crash in a Chrysler vehicle and calls the government’s plan to eliminate liability lawsuits “heartless,” at the Senate Banking Committee June 10th hearing on “The State of the Domestic Automobile Industry: Impact of Federal Assistance.” Ron Bloom, senior advisor on the auto industry at the Treasury Department, agreed that many of the financial decisions the treasury made to keep the companies going were “exceedingly painful.”
Highlight From the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Hearing:
GM And Chrysler Dealership Closures: Protecting Dealers And Consumers 06/03/09
In the video below Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) questions GM CEO Fritz Henderson on whether the company intends to leave death and injury victims without recourse:
