WASHINGTON, D.C.—I want to welcome our next panel and thank my colleagues for dedicating so much of their day to this important issue.
As I said this morning we have two goals today: First, to figure out exactly what happened so those who made the wrong decisions can be held accountable.
And second, to determine what actions need to be taken both to fix ongoing safety issues and to make sure this never happens again.
We learned a lot this morning from Secretary LaHood and Administrator Strickland about the government’s role in Toyota’s recent recalls and why these problems weren’t identified sooner.
We have an obligation to make sure the American people know the full story—what is the root of the problem and what is being done to solve it.
And both federal regulators and Toyota must learn the lessons of these failures and make sure they are never repeated.
This afternoon, we will hear from Toyota executives about how these problems occurred and why the company did not respond more quickly.
I want to say again in the presence of this third panel, Toyota is an important company in America not only to my home state of West Virginia but to our national economy as well.
I worked very hard to bring a Toyota Engine and Transmission Plant to Buffalo, West Virginia because I knew Toyota was a company that believed in perfection and reliability.
A company that believed a winning business plan was one where growth and profit came only from putting the quality of its products and the safety of its customers first.
It saddens me deeply to say that it seems somewhere along the way public safety decreased in value as profit margins soared.
Over the past few weeks, the Commerce Committee has been examining the recent Toyota recalls, and asking whether the company was losing its focus on quality and safety.
What we have found is that Toyota had plenty of warning signs that something was changing.
In September 2006, for example, the President of Toyota North America, Jim Press, expressed concern to Toyota’s top executives in Japan that Toyota quality was slipping and that the company was facing growing problems with NHTSA, the US safety regulator.
But it doesn’t seem like this message was heard in Japan. A year and a half later, Chris Tinto, Toyota’s top safety official in Washington, tried to warn his superiors in Japan that quality problems were growing and, in his words, “we have a less defensible product.”
I ask unanimous consent to insert Mr. Press’s and Mr. Tinto’s Power Point presentations in the hearing record.
If Toyota wants to remain successful and regain consumer confidence – and I believe it can – it needs to find this balance once again.
Toyota’s consumers and its incredible employees deserve nothing less.
And again—the American people deserve a top-to-bottom review, the honest picture of what happened, and what we are going to do moving forward.
This morning, we began an important conversation about the kind of legislation we may need to strengthen our system and prevent something like this from happening again.
That legislative work will continue as will our review of documents and oversight in the weeks ahead.
The public’s trust has been compromised, and the system has broken down.
For the safety of millions of Americans on the road and for the security of thousands of Toyota workers in America – let’s get this right.
Thank you to all of our witnesses participating today for working with our committee – I look forward to hearing from you all.
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