WASHINGTON — When Congress sent an energy bill to President Bush for his signature, it arrived in a Japanese-built Toyota Prius hybrid — a move that rubbed two Michigan Republicans the wrong way.
"It is a huge slap in the face, calculated I believe, just to demonstrate their complete disregard for the domestic auto industry," said Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich.
To Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., it was a "slap in the face of every American auto worker."
They said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., could have provided the same symbolism by sending the bill Wednesday in a U.S.-built hybrid made by Ford Motor Co. or General Motors Corp.
Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, said the Republicans were "merely attempting to distract from the success of the Democratic energy security legislation" and noted that 95 House Republicans supported the bill. He said the bill would encourage the development of hybrids and alternative vehicles.
Hammill said the Prius was owned by an employee with the Office of the Clerk, which sends bills to the White House.
U.S. automakers were already upset about the new fuel mileage standards in this bill and the effort and expense they'll have to go through to get their fleet in compliance. This bill will likely be the end of some of the big car models that consumers want, but Detroit can't afford to make because they bring their average fuel mileage rating down.
They take the car industry pretty seriously in Michigan. Some years ago I worked for a bank that was headquartered in Farmington Hills, MI. I was told when I traveled back there to be sure my rental car was American made because the bank had a rule that employees could only park American-built cars in the office parking lot. Visitors were given a break in the visitor lot, but if you worked there, you didn't dare show up to work in a Japanese or German car. It was their way of supporting the local economy.
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