Barra, Valukas To Meet With House Committee Next Week
As promised in April before both the U.S. House and Senate, General Motors CEO Mary Barra will appear next Wednesday in Washington, D.C. for a second round of congressional hearings over the February 2014 GM ignition switch recall.
Automotive News reports Barra will be accompanied by former U.S. attorney Anton Valukas, who was called upon by GM to independently investigate and report the findings on the how and why an out-of-spec ignition switch made at the turn of the millennium became the monster that flipped the automaker on its head nearly 14 years later. Both Barra and Valukas will meet with the House Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss the latter’s findings.
According to a statement made by GM, Barra’s visit is meant to update the committee “on the actions GM is taking in response” to the recall, including “fixing the failures identified in the Valukas report, building a culture centered on safety, quality and excellence, and doing what’s right for victims and their families.” The report cleared Barra and top execs of wrongdoing regarding the switch and recall, and proclaimed no cover-up in the matter.
The Senate Commerce Committee is still conducting its investigation into GM, but has not at this time set up an appointment with Barra and Valukas for its own hearing over the report.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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"And doing what’s right for victims and their families.” Uh huh. "Unless we can get away with it." I hope the defence of C11 unwinds due to the obvious malfeasance still endemic to GM. It is literally unbelievable she did not know about a decade long liability exposure of this magnitude. Turn up the heat, the private sector lawyers will stir the grits until the deception unravels like, well, 80's X caar.
I wonder if Ms Barra would have fought to reach the top of GM if she had known her future would be defined by her courtroom behavior.
Oooooooooooooooooooooo...a made for soundbite show hearing. Time to pop some popcorn.
Did the federal government collude with GM to delay the ignition switch recall until after the government sold its ownership stake in GM? It appears that both GM and the NHTSA had investigated the problem of airbags failing to deploy many years before the recall started. http://www.npr.org/2014/03/31/297158876/timeline-a-history-of-gms-ignition-switch-defect http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/05/18/business/gms-ignition-problem-who-knew-what-when.html?_r=0 I'd look especially closely at the time period between the start of the lawsuit that exposed the ignition switch modification without a part number change and key stock sale and election dates.