FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Detroit, MI – Congressman John D. Dingell held a press conference today across the street from the successful 2012 auto show to expose the truth behind some recent claims from Republican candidate Mitt Romney.  Dingell was joined at the press conference by auto workers Vince Precopio, UAW local 372 – Chrysler Trenton Plant, and Beth Cox, UAW local 600 – Ford Truck Plant, who currently have jobs as a result of the 2009 auto rescue.

“Mitt Romney first said we should just ‘let Detroit go bankrupt,’ and then today in South Carolina, he had the audacity to mock people who build cars for a living saying he could have gotten a job in a car company, but that’s not how his parents raised him,” said Dingell.  ”Romney has been against the auto rescue and the domestic auto industry every step of the way on his campaign, and he claims that what he did as a corporate buyout specialist is no different than what the President did to save the US auto industry.  That is simply false and Michigan voters need to know the truth.  The fact is, President Obama made the right call, and in doing so he saved more than 1.4 million American jobs and helped turn around the industry – with the big three currently making profits, gaining market share, adding shifts and opening new plants.”

Dingell unveiled a new video, produced by the Democratic National Committee, showing that Romney’s attempt to compare his career as a layoff specialist at Bain Capital to President Obama’s work to save the auto industry is simply false.

“Closing factories is not the same as keeping them open,” said Dingell.  “It’s alarming that someone who is running for President on the idea he ‘understands the economy’ can’t tell the difference.  The Democratic National Committee has put together a video that makes this point very clearly – and shows the truth about what Mitt Romney did.”

Click here to view the video.