国际英语新闻：U.S. House opens debate on auto dealer-closing bill

CHICAGO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House has begun discussing spending bill that includes a provision that seeks to reverse the closing of 789 Chrysler Group LLC dealers and the planned closing more than 2,000 GM dealers, reports reaching here said Thursday.

    Despite a White House statement saying it "strongly opposes" efforts to hamstring GM and Chrysler's efforts to slim down their dealer networks, the financial services and general government spending bill is expected to pass later Thursday. Its fate in the Senate is uncertain.

    Last week, an amendment was attached to the bill in the House Appropriations Committee that was passed by a voice vote seeking to restore the dealer agreements of about a quarter of Chrysler dealers that were closed on June 9. GM has sent closing notices to1,340 dealers, but it has reversed those decisions in 70 instances. GM expects another 1,250 dealers will close their doors voluntarily by the end of next year.

    The National Automobile Dealers Association says the closing dealers could result in 170,000 job losses nationwide. But GM and Chrysler say it is imperative they reduce their dealer networks, to ensure the remaining dealers are more profitable. They also say the cuts will reduce their costs.

    GM and Chrysler have received about 65 billion U.S. dollars in taxpayer loans. The companies had the ability to cancel dealer agreements because they both were in bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy law gives companies wide latitude to terminate previous business contracts.