Washington, D.C. --  U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) issued the following opening statement  for the record and posed questions to the Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu at House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations hearing entitled, “The Solyndra Failure: Views from DOE Secretary Chu”:

“I’d like to thank Secretary Chu for being here today and also for his Department’s cooperation in this Solyndra matter.  Without the use of a subpoena by the subcommittee, DOE has voluntarily provided over 85,000 pages of documents.  You’ve allowed your staff to not only testify before this subcommittee but also to be interviewed by subcommittee staff.  I think that shows a great willingness for transparency on behalf of Dr. Chu’s department and I applaud him for it.

“I will be the first to acknowledge that there are questions that need to be answered regarding DOE’s review of the Solyndra loan application during both the Bush and Obama Administrations.  Was there an adequate review of the financial stability of Solyndra?  Did Solyndra have a sustainable business plan?  These are important and possibly very telling questions that need to be addressed.

“We don’t have an entire half of this story, that from Solyndra itself.  As I’ve said before, I respect the rights of Solyndra executives to exercise their 5th Amendment rights but I hope that sometime in the future we can hear what Solyndra has to say.  I do not believe we should pass judgment on DOE or anyone until we have all the facts.

“I have yet to be presented with a single piece of evidence that President Obama, Vice-President Biden, or any of their staffs used political pressure on DOE to circumvent the normal vetting process, an assumption/presumption that my Republican colleagues continue to propagate for media attention.  Would my Republican colleagues like to take documents out of context to show political influence from campaign donors?  Well, they already have.  However, until we are presented with a smoking gun showing a direct link between donors, the White House, and DOE’s decision, this investigation can only be called political grandstanding where my Republican colleagues are content to get news headlines to score political points against the President and relish in the limelight instead of getting to the root of the issue and investigating with the thorough oversight we have been assigned to do on this subcommittee.

“As we continue to bumble along in this investigation, I would instead urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find ways to make meaningful agreements to pass legislation that will put Americans back to work and help rebuild our economy.

“Some of you may have read an article I wrote for today’s Politico.  When you compare the dismal legislative record this Congress has compared to the 104th Congress where Republicans controlled both chambers and a Democrat was president, we have no excuse for our failures.  These constant district work sessions take us away from the real task of doing something really worthwhile for American like getting the economy going, providing jobs for American workers, and addressing the deficit and national debt which are at shameful levels.  In the age of social media and instant communications, we don’t need to recess until our work is done.  My constituents in Southeast Michigan know how to get a hold of me and I hear from them often. And I would bet that yours do too.

“After a recent series of votes on the floor, a Republican colleague told me that he couldn’t wait to get away from Washington and get back to his district.  While I respect his anticipation, we must have the same anticipation to be here in Washington.  Each of us were sent to work with elected representatives from across the country to address issues facing the country and we’ll have a hard time doing that if members are straining at the leash to leave our work undone to spend more time in their districts.

“I call for the House of Representatives to stay in session until we find common ground for the future of our country.  I hope my colleagues here today will join me in this call and start meaningful dialog to tackle the tough issues we face head on.”

To view a video of Dingell questioning Secretary Chu at the hearing, please click here. 

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