AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By AutoObserver Staff September 23, 2011
A GOP-backed disaster relief funding bill that diverts $1.5 billion from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program for use in federal disaster aid programs was approved by the House this morning, two days after a nearly identical measure was defeated in a surprising 195-230 vote that saw a number of Tea Party Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The bill was proposed by Republicans intent on funding ongoing government expenses by taking money from existing programs to avoid the need for borrowing or increasing taxes. Leadership in the Democrat-controlled Senate has vowed to reject the bill. House Democrats opposed the measure, maintaining that the ATVM loans (from a 2008 program funded during the George W. Bush administration) have created or retained 41,000 jobs, and that an additional $2.5 billion expected to be awarded by the end of this year would save or create as many as 40,000 more.
The bill that passed this morning in a 219-203 vote cast largely along party lines, authorized $3.7 billion for federal disaster relief to hurricane and flood victims and for other ongoing government expenses. In addition to the $1.5 billion taken from the ATVM loan program, funding for the bill now includes $100 million diverted from a loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects. It is part of a broader short-term continued funding measure that must be passed by both the House and Senate by next Friday in order to keep the federal government funded. Senate Democrats have already vowing to reject the House-backed plan. Congress now faces its third grueling debate this year on government funding, which will continue to expose the bitter philosophical divides that have blocked compromise on a number of critical measures this year.
The ATVM program provides successful applicants with federally guaranteed loans. Congress initially approved $7.5 billion in funding to support $25 billion in loans aimed at helping auto industry companies build or retool plants to manufacture advanced-technology vehicles and vehicle components that can help improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Administered by the Department of Energy (DOE), critics have said the program is too slow moving. To date the DOE has approved only six loans totaling just over $9 billion. Those loans were supported by approximately $3.5 billion from the ATVM pool, leaving about $4 billion in the pool. Backers of the bill argued that even if $1.5 billion of that money was diverted to other uses, the remaining $2.5 billion would have been enough to support the 10 applications now in final stages of negotiation. One of those is a $3.5 billion loan application from Chrysler. Democrats argued that the appropriation jeopardizes other ATVM loan applications that are further from completion.
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