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Press Release Published: Sep 28, 2012

Oversight Presses Treasury to Deliver Delphi Pension Documents

WASHINGTON – House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa and Congressman Mike Turner, a senior member of the Committee, wrote to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner demanding that his Department comply with document requests related to the Delphi pension scandal. Recent media reports have indicated that Treasury was directly involved in decisions that resulted in approximately 20,000 salaried Delphi retirees from across the country taking a severe cut in their pension benefits following the Auto Bailout process. Despite requests of over a year ago, Treasury has yet to fully comply with the Oversight Committee’s investigation, and its effort to shed light on a decision overseen by the Department which picked winners and losers amongst American taxpayers.

“We have written to you multiple times on this matter and have yet to receive a sufficient response…Despite our repeated requests for all responsive documents and communications, the Treasury Department has only proffered a limited number of documents, many of which were already publicly available. Documents recently made public under the Freedom of Information Act, however, demonstrate that the Treasury Department was “the driving force” behind the decision to terminate the pensions of Delphi’s salaried employees. Although the Treasury Department has maintained that PBGC alone made the decision to terminate the pensions of Delphi’s salaried employees, these documents appear to indicate that Treasury Department officials and members of President Obama’s Auto Task Force played a large role in this decision,” write Issa and Turner.

Specifically, the Committee is seeking all records and communications between the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the President’s Automotive Task Force, the United Auto Workers, the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation, GM, Delphi Corporation and Holding, or any other public official, referring or relating to retirement or pension benefits for GM or Delphi Corporation employees, between November 1, 2008, and September 19, 2012.

“If the Department does not produce all the requested material by October 9, 2012, the Committee will be forced to consider use of compulsory process. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the House of Representatives and may at ‘any time’ investigate ‘any matter’ as set forth in House Rule X,” added the lawmakers.

 

Related Documents
Name Document
September 27, 2012 Letter to Secretary Geithner Requesting Delphi Pension Documents Document