National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 - Conference Report
Floor Speech
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Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, would the Chair like to buy a used car from a used car dealer that was on the recall list because it had a defective Takata airbag in the steering wheel; so that if you had a fender-bender and it suddenly exploded, it might send shrapnel into your face and into your jugular in your neck. The answer is obviously, no; that you would not want to buy such a used car. Well, to the credit of a major used car dealer, as well as new car dealer, AutoNation, headquartered in Florida but with hundreds and hundreds of dealerships all over the country, they have set as company policy that they will not sell a used car on the recall list for defective products until that recall problem has been corrected.
All dealers do this with regard to new cars because it is the law. In fact, in the highway bill we passed a couple of months ago we put in an additional provision, which if you are a rental car company such as Avis, National, and so forth, you cannot rent to a customer if it has a recall on that vehicle until the recall item is fixed. That just makes common sense. You certainly wouldn't want to put a defective product out there for the consuming public.
So then why is the National Association of Automobile Dealers fighting us as we try to extend the law for new cars to used cars when it comes to the sale of a used car with a defective item? It defies common sense.
This is what it is: What is the economic interest versus what is the safety interest--the economic interest of the used car salesman versus the safety interest of the consuming public that would buy that used car? I hope the national association will reconsider. This is an argument that cannot stand on all fours that they are making--that they comply with the sale of new cars but they don't want to comply with the sale of used cars.
What we ought to be looking out for in light of all of these revelations of all of the defective automobiles--look what happened with General Motors and the ignition. Look what has happened to Toyota and Honda with the Takata airbags. By the way, in airbags we are talking some 20 million recalls worldwide. It is huge. If we are going to protect the consuming public, we ought to make sure that recall items are taken care of before those vehicles are sold.
I yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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