Friday, December 19, 2008
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration has asked Detroit automakers for more information about their requests for $21.7 billion in retooling loans, but has not rejected the plans, an Energy Department spokeswoman said today.
Advertisement
Those loans are in addition to the $34 billion that automakers are seeking from Congress, mainly to keep General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC from collapsing into bankruptcy.
During today’s hearing on the industry’s request for $34 billion, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that “all applicants were turned down” in a letter sent by U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.
But Energy Department spokeswoman Healy Baumgardner said the department had not rejected any applications.
“The department has notified any applicants whose application was not substantially complete of the information that is required for the application to be substantially complete and to move to the next step in the review process,” she said in a statement.
The administration has said that automakers would need to prove they were viable to get the retooling loans, and pressed Congress to set similar standards for any rescue package.
Source:http://www.freep.com/article