The lawmakers may resort to such an action in case the manufacturers and the dealer groups don't sit down and negotiate a settlement. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said lawmakers are "“working very hard on getting to a point where we can sit down to see whether or not there is a possibility of reaching accommodation between the parties.”
“And failing that, we will continue to look at the status of the legislation which we passed here through the House,” Autonews quoted him as saying.
The legislation is being perceived not only as leverage to convince the involved parties to sit down and talk, but also as an alternative path to take should the talks lead nowhere. A first meeting between dealers and manufacturers has not yet been set.
According to Charles Grassley, the bill has 39 co-sponsors. “It's important for Congress to get an explanation from the manufacturers as to how they determined which dealers would be terminated and which would be retained.”
In the wake of their bankruptcies, Chrysler announced the termination of 789 dealership, while GM raised the stakes even higher and announced 1,350 closures.
Neither the manufacturers nor the dealers commented on the House threats. The only one to make a comment was Tamara Darvish, a dealer committee leader: "Hoyer is obviously committed to making ‘right' what was handled so wrong to preserve capitalism in America.”
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