WASHINGTON - After more than $100 billion in government assistance to the auto industry, key members of Congress are coming to the North American International Auto Show to get a look at what they got with the public's money, reported The Detroit News.
Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at least a dozen members of Congress, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., will spend most of the day at the auto show.
"Our bipartisan delegation will visit Detroit to see firsthand the innovative technologies the industry is investing in to create the jobs of the future and to ensure our national competitiveness," Pelosi said Thursday. She was invited by Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, a long-time champion of the auto industry.
The delegation will meet with the chief executives of the Detroit Three: General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will accompany them.
The lawmakers also will learn about the problems of auto suppliers and hold a lunch focused on job creation. The visit has several goals:
- The delegation seeks to assure Michigan and other midwestern auto states that Democrats care deeply about the auto industry and wrenching job losses.
- Furthermore, lawmakers and automakers both embrace fuel-efficient plug-in electric vehicles and they want to highlight the common cause.
Granholm said in an interview Thursday that she wants to use the visit "to cement, really, in the minds of these national leaders that Michigan will be the epicenter of a green economy in this country."
Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, hopes Congress' delegation to the show will learn more about the progress domestic automakers have made.
"I certainly confront a lot of misinformation on a regular basis," Peters told The Detroit News.
Michigan members "are constantly dispelling myths and misinformation about the domestic auto industry," he said.
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