H.R. 2796 – Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009

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HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Financial Services Committee

June 10, 2009

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

June 10, 2009

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Financial Services Committee

June 10, 2009

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 2796 on the floor

1 Republican

Rep. Michele BachmannR-MN-6 · Jul 21, 2009

Mr. Chair, last week the House voted on legislation, H.R. 3170, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2010, which included an important provision to reinstate the…

Mr. Chair, last week the House voted on legislation, H.R. 3170, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2010, which included an important provision to reinstate the economic rights of auto dealers whose franchise agreements were recently terminated by GM and Chrysler. Along with 242 of my colleagues, I am a cosponsor of two pieces of legislation that are similar to that provision: H.R. 2743 and H.R. 2796, both known as the Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009.

Unfortunately, I was unable to support the overall appropriations bill, H.R. 3170, due to concerns entirely unrelated to the auto dealer provision. For instance, I am concerned that the bill allows for publicly funded abortions in Washington, DC. For years, there has been a prohibition on taxpayer-funded abortions in the District of Columbia--a ban which restricted the use of both federal and local tax dollars for abortions. However, this bill makes taxpayer funded abortion quite possible.

The legislation also eliminates the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, a school voucher program which has successfully improved the DC public school system since its inception. Under the bill, no new students will receive funding for this program, which aids low-income children by giving them scholarships of up to $7,500 to attend nonpublic schools in Washington, DC. The bill also removes the current ban on legalizing medical marijuana in DC.

I strongly believe that the franchise rights of hundreds of dealers across the nation were wrongfully violated throughout the course of the automakers' restructuring, and I believe that the heavy hand of government which

clearly influenced the proceedings had a lot to do with that. I continue to call upon Congressional leadership to bring H.R. 2743 or H.R. 2796 to the floor for an up-or-down vote on their own merits. It should not be tucked into unrelated legislation, from which it can be plucked in conference committee. This is a serious issue and it requires our full attention.

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Introduced in HouseIssued June 10, 2009

I

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2796

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 10, 2009

Mr. LaTourette (for himself, Mr. Gerlach, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Latta, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. McCotter, Mr. McHenry, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Turner, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, and Mrs. Bachmann) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To restore the economic rights of automobile dealers, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Automobile Dealer Economic Rights Restoration Act of 2009.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds the following:

(1)

Automobile dealers are an asset to automobile manufacturers that make it possible to penetrate communities and sell automobiles nationally.

(2)

The manufacturers obtain the benefits from having a national dealer network at no material cost to the manufacturers.

(3)

Historically, automobile dealers have had franchise agreement protections under State law.

3.

Restoration of economic rights

(a)

Preservation of rights

In order to protect assets of the Federal Government, and better assure the viability of automobile manufacturers in which the Federal Government has an ownership interest, no automobile manufacturer in which the Federal Government has an Federal financial interest or ownership interest may deprive an automobile dealer of its economic rights under a dealer agreement and must assume (or assign to a successor) each dealer agreement which is valid and in existence (and has not been lawfully terminated under applicable State law) before the date of the commencement of a case under title 11 of the United States Code by such automobile manufacturer.

(b)

Restoration of franchise agreements

In order to preserve economic rights pursuant to subsection (a), an automobile manufacturer covered under this Act shall to the extent that a valid dealer agreement existing immediately before the date of the commencement of a case under title 11 of the United States Code by such automobile manufacturer is not assumed or assigned to an automobile manufacturer, shall require the new entity created in such case to enter into a new dealer agreement with the dealer whose agreement was not so assumed or assigned, and on the same terms as existed immediately before such date.