Majority Statement

• Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (10:00 AM, Panels I & II)

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
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  Majority Statement

  Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (10:00 AM, Panels I & II)

  WASHINGTON, D.C.—At its core, today’s hearing is about the millions of Americans who drive to work, the grocery store, or carpool their kids to school and activities everyday.

  It is about their safety and their security – and nothing is more important than that.

  We are all here today because we know that something has gone terribly wrong – the system meant to safeguard against faulty vehicles has failed and it needs to be fixed – immediately.

  This is an important hearing – one we have dedicated an entire day to so we can examine the problems and get to solutions.

  It is most immediately about the Toyota recalls, but more broadly and just as urgently about the safety oversight system and how to fix it.

  It’s not just for some future problem, but right now today in order to get to the bottom of the dangers of sudden acceleration not addressed in the recalls.

  I believe the way we respond to this serious situation will – and must – have a lasting impact on the car maker and its employees, on the federal agency charged with overseeing safety, and on the confidence of the public for years to come.

  This morning’s hearing will focus on the government’s role and this afternoon we will focus on the company’s role in this serious situation.

  It is no secret that Toyota is an important company in America – not only to my home state of West Virginia but to our national economy. The car maker operates 10 plants across the country employing 35,000 workers and dealerships in all 50 states.

  I worked very hard to bring a Toyota Engine and Transmission Plant to Buffalo, West Virginia because I knew Toyota was a company built on the philosophy of quality first – that if they designed and built the safest and most reliable cars possible, then sales and profits would follow.

  Now, it is clear that somewhere along the way public safety took a back seat and corporate profits drove the company’s decisions.

  If Toyota wants to remain successful and regain consumer confidence – it needs to find this balance once again.

  Toyota’s consumers and its incredible employees deserve nothing less.

  It is also apparent that the government – NHTSA – didn’t fulfill its responsibility in the past and has more to do in the present – and needs greater resources and authority in the future.

  NHTSA’s actions – and inactions – in the years leading up to today are deeply troubling.

  The American people count on NHTSA to protect them and to provide them with clear and reliable safety information – and even today that picture is not clear.

  And what’s more - the American people do not yet clearly understand how this happened and how it will be solved; which defects have been addressed and what dangers remain; and what the recalls are fixing and what they are not.

  So – we need to look back and focus forward.

  We will hear from Toyota executives how these problems occurred and why the company did not respond more quickly.

  But I also want to know what Toyota’s plans are to fix the ongoing problems with sudden acceleration and set itself on a new course to identify needed recalls earlier in the future and prevent new defects.

  We will hear from NHTSA and DOT officials why they did not adequately connect the dots about this safety situation and why they did not move aggressively to investigate.

  But I also want to know NHTSA’s plan to get to the bottom of sudden acceleration industry-wide and to make sure it has the resources and authority to fulfill its mission.

  And last but certainly not least – we will hear from the Center for Auto Safety about the best and most effective path to success for all involved.

  I do intend to work on comprehensive legislation to get at all of these issues in a real way – we need to look at current law and ask if it is strong enough to prevent something like this from happening again.

  I know my colleagues have much to contribute to this effort and I welcome it.

  The American people deserve a top-to-bottom review, not just of past errors but of the road ahead.

  They deserve more than reassurances – they deserve full disclosure, accountability and solutions.

  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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• Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (2:30 PM, Panel III)

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
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  Majority Statement

  Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (2:30 PM, Panel III)

  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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Minority Statement

• Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

  U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
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  Minority Statement

  Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

  STATEMENT OF SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON,

  RANKING MEMBER

  COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

  ON TOYOTA’S RECALLS AND THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE

  MARCH 2, 2010

  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing to address many important questions surrounding Toyota’s recent recalls and related safety issues, along with the Federal Government’s role in ensuring the safety of the cars on America’s roads.

  Transportation safety is one of this Committee’s most important responsibilities, and I hope today we will begin to understand why it took so long for Toyota and NHTSA to take decisive action to address the serious safety problems associated with sudden, unintended acceleration.  We are just beginning to understand the complicated series of events that has led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles in the United States and Europe.   

  We owe it to the 39 individuals who have lost their lives, and the thousands who have experienced unintended acceleration, to get to the bottom of this issue.  We also owe it to Toyota and its thousands of American employees to conduct a thorough and fair inquiry.

  To date, Toyota has identified certain all-weather floor mats, which may entrap a depressed accelerator pedal, as well as so-called “sticky” accelerator pedals, as sources of unintended or unwanted acceleration.  But because Toyota and NHTSA were slow to react to consumer complaints, many remain concerned about the safety of Toyota vehicles.

  Among the many questions the Committee and the American public have are whether the true cause of unintended acceleration has been identified and whether the corrective actions underway are sufficient.  There are concerns about whether NHTSA has the appropriate expertise to diagnose complex problems with today’s sophisticated vehicles.  Also, is the information NHTSA receives through Early Warning Reports, specifically mandated by the TREAD Act to give NHTSA more information with which to quickly identify potential safety hazards, sufficiently robust?

  Most importantly, we need to know how to prevent this situation from recurring, and how Congress can assist.  Only then will drivers feel confident about buying and driving Toyota products and only then will Toyota recover its good name.

  I have been encouraged, Mr. Chairman, by the recent statements of Toyota’s president, acknowledging that the company must reaffirm its commitment to safety and quality.  I am confident the roughly 1,700 employees at Toyota’s production facility in San Antonio, Texas, and the more than 9,000 employees of Toyota’s dealers in Texas would echo that commitment.  I hope today’s hearing will be another step in the process of making those commitments a reality.
  
  Mr. Chairman, thank you again for holding this important hearing.  I look forward to the witnesses’ testimony.    

   

Testimony

• The Honorable Raymond LaHood

  Secretary

  U.S. Department of Transportation
  Download Testimony (199.89 KB)

• The Honorable David Strickland

  Administrator

  National Highway Transportation Safety Administration

Witness Panel 2

• Mr. Clarence Ditlow

  Executive Director

  Center for Auto Safety
  Download Testimony (181.60 KB)

Witness Panel 3

• Mr. Shinichi Sasaki

  Executive Vice President

  Toyota Motor Corporation
  Download Testimony (64.38 KB)

• Mr. Takeshi Uchiyamada

  Executive Vice President

  Toyota Motor Corporation
  Download Testimony (77.79 KB)

• Mr. Yoshimi Inaba

  President and Chief Executive Officer

  Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
  Download Testimony (69.03 KB)

• Mr. Clarence Ditlow

  Executive Director

  Center for Auto Safety
  Download Testimony (181.60 KB)