House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, has announced that his committee has opened an investigation into the General Motors Company’s (GM) and National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) response to consumer complaints related to problems with ignition switches in certain vehicles. GM has announced the recalls of six vehicle models to correct the problems and stated that the defects may have been linked to 31 frontal crashes and 13 fatalities.

It has been over a decade since the enactment of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (or TREAD) Act, which was passed by Congress to enhance the federal government’s ability to protect against auto safety defects. Upton authored the TREAD Act after spearheading an extensive investigation into the Ford-Firestone tire malfunctions as then-chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The legislation was intended to improve communication between auto manufacturers and the federal government and increase NHTSA’s ability to collect and analyze information about potential threats. In light of GM’s safety problems, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will seek a progress report on the TREAD Act’s implementation and pursue answers relating to the complaints filed with NHTSA, the response, and the eventual recalls.

Congress to Investigate GM Recall

House Energy and Commerce Committee to Look at Slow Recall; Auto Maker Names Anton Valukas to Lead Internal Probe

DETROIT— General Motors Co. faced new pressure from a powerful member of Congress to explain why it took nearly a decade to recall 1.6 million vehicles for faulty ignitions linked to 13 deaths, even as the auto maker hired a high-profile lawyer to lead its internal investigation and stepped up warnings to customers.

Late Monday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said it would launch an investigation into the slow recall and hold hearings.

The committee's chairman, Michigan Republican Fred Upton, was the lead sponsor of the last comprehensive piece of auto safety legislation enacted by Congress, the Tread Act of 2000.

That legislation was a response to a deadly series of accidents involving Ford Motor Co. Explorer sport-utility vehicles equipped with certain Firestone tires. The Tread Act set requirements for auto makers to more quickly report fatal accidents related to safety defects, and directed the U.S. Transportation Department to take steps to improve its ability to analyze data.

"Did the company or regulators miss something that could have flagged these problems sooner? If the answer is yes, we must learn how and why this happened, and then determine whether this system of reporting and analyzing complaints that Congress created to save lives is being implemented and working as the law intended," Mr. Upton said in a statement Monday.

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Click here to read the full Wall Street Journal story online

Click here to read the Energy and Commerce Committee’s initial release on the investigation