Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) tonight made the following statement regarding the House of Representative’s 237-170 vote to approve H.R. 7321, the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act:

“Today we have done right by American working families. This bridge loan will allow the American auto companies to make it through the coming months. We have held General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to a higher standard than our financial institutions. We have restricted bonuses to executives, prohibited golden parachutes, and suspended dividends through the term of the loan.

“I did not vote today, however, without reservation. This funding should have been drawn from the Troubled Assets Recovery Program created earlier this fall. President Bush, though he had the authority, would not use that funding to aid domestic automakers, and had made very clear that he would not sign a bill that drew from it. But the bottom line is that the perfect mustn’t be the enemy of the good, and today the House voted to buy time for the Big 3 and those they employ.

“I urge my colleagues in the Senate to look to the working families in their district when considering this bill.”