Auto suppliers vie for $25 billion promise

Published: Sept. 19, 2008 at 6:29 PM

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. truck and auto suppliers knocked on doors in Washington Friday to drum up support for a $25 billion loan program authorized last year.

The $25 billion, earmarked in the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, comes with the stipulation that automakers increase their vehicles' gas mileage. However, the low interest loan requires an appropriation of about $7 billion, which has not been authorized.

Members of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, representing 700 businesses, planned to meet with 40 members of Congress with the message that the money could save jobs, The Detroit News reported Friday.

The trade organization's businesses include 783,000 employees, MEMA said.

The governors of nine states, including Michigan, have also lobbied for the appropriations, the News reported.

"This is a direct loan program. The money will be paid back," said MEMA's director of external affairs Ann McCulloch.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
The almanac (13 min)
Values influence floral purchases
When flu should trigger a school shutdown
NBA: LA Lakers 104, New Orleans 88
NFL: Dallas 20, Philadelphia 16
NBA: Sacramento 120, Golden State 107
Poll: Many can't get H1N1 vaccine
fark
Girl, 12, gives birth to boy for her 15-year-old husband. In Tennessee? West Virginia? No, New South...
12-year-old girl suspended from school for piercing her nose, which perfectly normal in India, not...
When searching for your dog, always look under car first before reaching underneath. That shadow...
State Senator forgets he's supposed to make drugs sound bad, not cool; describes Oxycontin as "a...
After her husband gets locked up for dealing meth, pissed-off wife goes undercover, takes down major...
Afghans replace opium poppies with bumper wheat crop, gluten intolerance grips nation