Red Rock On Air

Washington DC – Congressman Jim Oberstar is calling on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to use money from the bank bailout to keep America’s struggling auto industry afloat. “If the big three automakers go bankrupt, you will see a cascade of business failures and bankruptcies throughout the U.S. economy. The Iron Range is one place that will feel those failures keenly with taconite production slowing to a crawl and massive layoffs,” said Oberstar.

Paulson has spent most of the first installment of $350 billion Congress authorized to prop up the nation’s major banks and to keep credit markets from drying up. Oberstar and other members of Congress have been critical of how Paulson has distributed those funds.

“The secretary has seen to it that big banks and companies like AIG have received infusions of cash with few strings attached and little accountability. The funding from the financial rescue package is not freeing up credit and loans to keep our small businesses operating; the money is not preventing home foreclosures. It is certainly appropriate for Paulson to use some of these funds to prevent the bankruptcy of America’s three largest manufacturers,” said Oberstar.

The big three automakers currently provide up to 2.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy, accounting for 1.9 percent of the nation’s workforce. The industry employs 255,000 people directly; another 2.3 million workers are employed in the steel, glass, fabric, tire and electronics industries that are dependent on supplying the big three automakers.

”The Senate Republicans’ irresponsible move to block legislation to help the automakers is nothing but pure obstructionism,” said Oberstar. “They present no solution to our economic difficulties, they save no one’s job. All they have to offer is gridlock. The people of America are tired of it. They want answers, they want action, and they deserve no less from their Congress,”