Press Releases

Led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Republicans on the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions are calling for the head of the White House Auto Task Force to testify at a hearing this week on the bankruptcy of automotive parts manufacturer Delphi and its implications for workers and retirees. Republicans are using the single witness slot they have been allocated on the hearing’s second panel to allow Ron Bloom, a senior advisor for the President’s Task Force on the Automotive Industry, to answer questions about the Administration’s role in automotive industry bankruptcies, including the Delphi bankruptcy that has resulted in the loss of significant pension benefits for salaried workers.

 

“This Administration has pledged openness and transparency in the government’s dealings. Yet since the creation of an auto task force and the appointment of a powerful car czar, numerous questions remain unanswered about what role the Administration is playing in the restructuring of our nation’s auto industry,” said Price, the HELP Subcommittee’s top Republican. “In the case of Delphi, the bankruptcy created clear winners and losers, with some workers and retirees retaining their full pensions and others losing out substantially on their promised retirement benefits. These individuals, and all Americans, deserve to know how these decisions were made.”

The HELP Subcommittee is slated to hear testimony on Wednesday from elected officials including Reps. Chris Lee (R-NY) and Mike Turner (R-OH). The panel will also hear from members of the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, which represents workers and retirees who have lost major portions of their promised defined benefit pension plan in the Delphi bankruptcy that was finalized earlier this year. At the request of Price, an invitation was extended today to Mr. Bloom. A final witness list will be made available later this week.

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