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Paulson cool to auto company help

Red. Brad Sherman
Red. Brad Sherman | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged Congress to modify already-passed legislation to help the auto companies rather than expect him to buy stock.

Under questioning from U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., during a hearing Tuesday of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Paulson declined to provide a yes or no answer to the question of whether he would buy preferred stock in the Big Three automakers as he did in the case of banks.

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"Regarding autos, what we've said is Congress has acted. You have a bill that passed. I urge you to modify that," Paulson said, referring to legislation that was supposed to help automakers pay for retooling to produce more fuel-efficient cars.

Sherman argued, however, the $700 billion bailout bill is broad enough to allow Treasury to provide direct aid to automakers.

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