Lois Capps: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Williams amendment. This amendment…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Williams amendment. This amendment would needlessly exempt auto dealers from critical vehicle safety requirements included in the underlying bill. While Federal law currently prohibits auto dealers from selling new cars subject to a recall, there is no similar law prohibiting rental companies or auto dealers from renting or loaning out unrepaired recalled vehicles. I introduced the Raechel and Jacqueline Houck Safe Rental Car Act to close this loophole and prohibit rental car companies and auto dealers from renting or loaning vehicles under safety recall until they are fixed, and I am pleased this legislation is in the underlying bill. This harmful amendment, however, would put lives at risk by exempting auto dealers from complying with this commonsense safety requirement. GM, Honda, Chrysler, and other car manufacturers who have issued safety recalls, are loaning out tens of thousands of cars to customers while the repairs are being made. Consumers expect that the loaner cars they receive when they take their own cars into a dealership for repairs are safe to drive. But rather than ensure these loaners are safe, the Williams amendment would allow car dealers to give out loaner cars that have the same exact defect as the car that is being repaired.…”