Debbie Dingell: “this amendment affords you a rare opportunity to cast a vote for more jobs, for fewer deaths and injuries on the highway…”

“this amendment affords you a rare opportunity to cast a vote for more jobs, for fewer deaths and injuries on the highway and against sharp price increases in the most popular of our vehicles. All you have got to do is vote ``no'' on the amendment. I urge you to do so. Take a look at the jobs that are involved here. Those are where your constituents work in automobile plants. There is nothing in the base bill which would preclude the Secretary of Transportation from fixing the levels of CAFE at those which are fixed by the Markey amendment. All that they would have to do is to find that it is technologically feasible and economically desirable and possible to so do. The Secretary now can and will under the base bill save 5 billion gallons of gasoline. That is equivalent to taking off the road the production of 1999 pickups and SUVs for a period of 2 years. In a word, that ain't hay. I would tell you some other things about this. The UAW and the American autoworkers are going to be most hurt if this amendment is adopted. It will force the auto companies to eliminate 135,000 jobs now held by American working men and women. It will force GM to close 16 of its plants and DaimlerChrysler to close two plants. That is about as bad as it gets until you consider that each auto company job supports seven other supplier jobs throughout the American economy.”