White House backs GOP auto plan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The White House is supporting a Republican proposal in the Senate to redirect $25 billion in bailout funds to U.S. automakers, a spokeswoman said.

Executives from Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC were on Capitol Hill Wednesday asking for federal assistance.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Bush administration backs the compromise offered by Sens. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Kit Bond, R-Mo.

"We support the Bond-Voinovich amendment," Perino said. "What we are concerned about is that Congress could leave without acting on it."

She said if Congress recesses without voting on the measure then lawmakers "will bear responsibility for anything that happens in the next couple of months during their long vacation."

Perino said the Bond-Voinovich proposal "would not rob" the $700 billion U.S. Treasury program aimed at helping the financial industry. Some Democrats have sought to give the Big Three automakers some of that money.