Pence Tells New Castle Newspaper That American Automakes Can Succeed With Reorginization

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Congressman Mike Pence says with the right plan the U.S. auto industry could be stronger, leaner and better.

On a day when Chrysler LLC announced it would halt production for a month and cuts at New Castle's Metaldyne made headlines, Pence talked with The Courier-Times about the future of the auto industry.

Sitting inside Westminster Community Center in New Castle on Wednesday, Pence said, "Inaction is not an option."

He voted against a proposed $14 billion auto bailout plan just days earlier. That plan went on to fail in the Senate.

Pence, the No. 3 Republican in the House, says that proposal would have led to future bailout requests from auto executives. He says the right solution is based around a court-supervised reorganization of the Big Three auto manufacturers.

In that reorganization, a judge could bring the United Auto Workers union and the executives together.

The judge would be able to reorganize the companies as he or she saw fit.

"The judge gets out a gavel and goes, bang, 'That's the deal,'" Pence said. "We're not haggling. That's just the deal. That's going to be necessary."

Under Pence's plan, private investment would fund the reorganization. That investment would come with a federal guarantee, he says.

The $14 billion auto bailout failed in the Senate after the UAW refused to agree to major concessions demanded by Republican senators.

The Republicans' demands and the union's refusal inspired some to cite a grudge between the groups as the reason for the bailout's failure.

But Pence, who represents many cities that have strong ties to the UAW like Anderson, Kokomo and New Castle, says blaming unions for the failures of the auto industry is not right. He says that's not the motivation of most Republicans in Washington.

"I just reject that this is somehow a war between Republicans and the UAW," Pence said. "I just categorically reject that.

"I think that what this really is is an honest effort by Republicans in the House and the Senate to find out how you really make these companies whole."

Pence says his plan would stimulate automobile suppliers, like New Castle's Metaldyne, which has lost about 250 jobs this year alone.

"Virtually without exception in a court-ordered reorganization, suppliers are made 100 percent whole," Pence said. "That's not being widely talked about."

Despite Wednesday's negative developments, Pence says the automobile industry can rebound.

"With a plan ... that would be orderly and administered in the first quarter of next year, I think these companies come out stronger, leaner, better," he said.

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