McCain on Attack as Senators Block Auto Safety Bill

Saying “the fix is in for the special interests,” Sen. John McCain on Friday accused the Senate of capitulating to business groups that oppose stronger federal oversight of auto safety.

An angry, frustrated McCain took to the Senate floor to demand that his auto safety bill be voted on before Congress adjourns. The Arizona Republican invoked the memory of more than 100 people who have died in crashes linked to Firestone tires, but at the end of the day, he had failed to budge enough of his colleagues to pry the bill loose.

The Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by McCain, had unanimously approved a bill that would require the auto industry to report more information on potential safety problems and would impose jail sentences on executives who knowingly approve the sale of defective products.

But several senators, who remain anonymous, have exercised their right under the chamber’s rules to block a floor vote. If the standoff continues, it could doom chances for passing any auto safety bill this year.

The House is working on its version of the legislation, which would also require more reporting of potential problems and would impose criminal penalties on company officials who deliberately mislead the government. A vote in the full House is expected early next week.

If senators don’t remove their holds, the Senate will not get an opportunity to take up any version of the bill--and it will die for the year.

Business groups prefer the House bill, while consumer groups have lined up behind the McCain legislation.

“The lives of American citizens are at stake,” McCain told his colleagues. “This is serious business. . . . This is not my proudest moment in the United States Senate.”

Spokespersons for several senators who were rumored to have placed holds on the McCain bill denied that was the case. A spokesman for one senator, Ohio Republican George Voinovich, acknowledged holding up the bill, but said the senator’s concerns are being worked out and he has no intention of preventing a vote.

McCain pleaded with his colleagues to work out objections in the normal give-and-take of debating and amending a bill.

A senior lobbyist for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers--the main industry trade association--said his umbrella group is not obstructing the bill.

“The alliance has not asked any member to put a hold on the bill,” said Mike Stanton. “We could live with a bill as long as that bill is going to work. Right now, the Senate bill is not going to work. The criminal penalty provisions would put people in jail for exercising their engineering judgment.”

However, other business groups and individual companies are also actively lobbying on the legislation. Some senators may also be blocking the legislation out of personal animus toward McCain, whose outspokenness on such issues as campaign finance reform is unpopular with colleagues.

Stanton said “it would be unfortunate” if no bill passes. “There are certain things that can be done that would help overall safety,” he said.

Business organizations support a provision of the House bill that would allow company officials to avoid criminal prosecution if they correct any misleading reports to the government “within a reasonable time.” But McCain has called that “a loophole.”

Joan Claybrook, head of the Public Citizen advocacy group, said she could not support the House bill as it is now written.

A spokeswoman for McCain said he will reevaluate his options next week. Even if he can get a vote on his legislation, differences with the House bill would have to be resolved before a bill could be sent to President Clinton.

In other developments, Ford Motor Co. said Friday it had dropped Firestone as a supplier in Venezuela due to safety concerns, widening a rift between the two companies facing a criminal investigation of at least 46 road deaths involving Ford vehicles with Firestone tires in that South American nation.

Ford, the world’s No. 2 car maker, has blamed manufacturing defects in tires made by Bridgestone/Firestone for more than 100 high-speed blowouts in Venezuela, mainly on Ford’s Explorer sport-utility vehicle.

Firestone has insisted its tires are safe and fully met the auto manufacturer’s quality requirements. It has said it mislabeled some Wilderness AT tires and ordered a recall of 62,000 of those tires in Venezuela in early September.

Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone also said Friday that the U.S. recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires could be completed as early as November, now that the tire industry has ramped up production of replacement tires. Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said that as of Thursday 3.71 million recalled tires had been replaced--57.1% of all those recalled.

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Times wire services were used in this report.