facing. i think talking with iran is better than not talking with iran. i'm getting very, very angry at republicans. their hallmark was always, being a strong america and fighting war is being against terrorism. but they're doing somersaults to get out from under supporting our commander in chief at his job, which is to keep us safe. >> you've managed to touch on a lot of subjects there. i certainly agree with you, that it's better to talk to iran than not. disengagement, silence unremitting hostility for 30 plus years, not a particularly productive set of policies. i mean in the cold war we talked about it earlier in this interview, the history of the cold war the united states recognized the soviet union. had diplomatic relations all

that time with the soviet union. they were our great adversary after world war ii, the soviet union. and for over 50 years. enormous resources invested in that competition. which, at times, flared into violence and war. korean war for example. vietnam war another example. if we can talk to our adversary for the whole time that period, surely we can talk to iran to see if we can't change behavior more to our liking and get them engaged and feel a sense of responsibility to a broader community. i think that's always better. your other points, i think we've addressed during the course of this interview. i think protecting that line --

what is privacy is being pushed in a different direction by technology itself. not just by the government. you're right to talk about that. technology is going to make data about us more and more available. sensor technology, for example. sensors built into the devices we have, whether it be a coffee pot or new kind of wristwatch or whatever it may be. who uses that data? do i sort of, in the way to giving the data when i buy the product? i agree with you moving forward privacy is going to have to be studies carefully about the limits we want to put on the private and public sectors. we're having the debate in the public sector but it needs to be in the private sector as well. >> darrell you're the last call from california. >> caller: mr. connolly what's

interesting is there is a statement to the effect that a nation divided, or a household divided cannot stand. you guys already have our democracy as the greatest organization of government on the planet earth. yet, russia was our friends for a while. with the slap of a hand now there's only a g-7. then you have all you guys flying all over the planet and talking about, we need to have climate agreements in our thinking. yet, you pollute the planet as a small group a thousand times more than us. we all watch you guys like you're lotto winners. it's amazing you cannot communicate to the american people because you have a patriot act replaced by the freedom act, and we're supposed to buy into this rhetoric as this is the wisdom of the people running the nation. i don't know why you guys can't look in the mirror and get a "t&ittle humility. that's my comment. thank you. >> well, i can assure you every

morning when i look in the mirror, i get a good dose of humility. >> locally, one more thought, here in washington, d.c., memorial bridge is closed off "t#or repairs to its structure. talk about what this bridge does for commuters in your district and others, but what does it say about the larger infrastructure picture? >> well memorial bridge connects washington, d.c. proper with arlington cemetery. it also functions as a major road into and out of the city. at least two lanes are going to be closed for the next six months. it's going to disrupt the commuting pattern for tens of thousands of commuters every morning. and every evening. it is emblematic of the infrastructure. this country is spending 1% of

the gdp on infrastructure. we used to spend four or five times that. china is 8% or 9% of it gdp on infrastructure. if we want to stay a comepetitive nation, we have to spend more to stay strong. >> representative connolly thank you for your time this morning. >> my pleasure pedro. waiting for witnesses to arrive for a hearing on the takata air bag recall. the north american division executive vice president, kevin kennedy, will testify this afternoon. tk takata has announced it'll stop using ammonium nitrate in its air bags. officials say the air bag could deploy forcibly spraying fragments in the car.

the japanese recalled air bags. including honda, toyota ford and gm. also national highway safety administration head, mark, as the hearing will get underway. this is the house, energy and commerce subcommittee on commerce manufacturing and trade. the house racked up votes and are on their way with discussion on the spending bill. you can follow that over on c-span. meanwhile, over in the senate, they gavel back in in about ten minutes to move forward with the usa freedom act. vote passing there handily earlier. 83-14. they'll consider amendments this afternoon of afternoon. if those pass, the senate will have to go back to the house. if no amendments pass, the measurement can go to president obama. they expect to finish work on the measure on the usa freedom act this afternoon in the senate. again, they come in this

afternoon at 2:15 eastern. you can follow that on c-span2. we're live on c-span3. hearing should get underway shortly as members return to the committee room after votes on the house floor.

get everyone to take their seats. i want to welcome dr. rosekind to our committee hearing today. the subcommittee on commerce,

manufacturing and trade will come to order. the chair recognizes himself for five minutes for the purposes of an opening statement. again, i want to extend my welcome to everyone, as we revisit a very serious motor vehicle deficit. six months ago, this subcommittee held a hearing looking at the same issue. members of the subcommittee were assured that everything was being done and testing and expertise were being brought to bear. but there were still a lot of unanswered questions. i was not chairman at that time, but i sat in on the subcommittee hearing. i remember raising the concern that safer does not mean the same thing as safe. here we are six months later. i was hoping we were getting down the road of safer but it is still unclear to me how far away we are from safe. a few weeks ago, the national highway traffic safety administration launched the largest motor vehicle safety recall in our nation's history

due to defective takata air bags. this recall impacts 13% of the countries driving stock affecting an unknown number of cars and spanning 11 vehicle manufacturers. since our last hearing tragically, there had been an additional death acontributedue to an exploding takata air bag in texas. i fear i am waiting for another injury, another death. while it is being confirmed there is a defect affecting at least six takata air bag inflaters, we don't have any great clarity as to the root cause and how we will know when we get to that point where we are safe. clarity and transparency are indeed needed. one thing that isn't clear is why we are launching this national recall now instead of almost a year ago when basically the same information was before us. the american people deserve much better. they deserve to know when a

national recall is announced. if their car part is of the recall. i am repeatedly visited by vehicle manufacturers who lament the challenges of getting drivers to respond to recall notices. especially following a year of record recalls at an overwhelming sense of recall fatigue. yet, when we do have the attention of consumers, how is it helpful to tell them that there is a recall but to check back later to see if you need to do something. serves a fundamental and critical role in ensuring vehicle safety. it is important it be part of the solution in every step of the recall process in removing defective vehicles from the road. the supply of replacement parts is also of concern. i am glad the agency has acknowledged it has a role to play. the united states drivers are competing against a global supply chain and recalls in many parts of the world. i also acknowledge that dr.

rosekind is new and was not yet the administrator at our last hearing. i hope that we will see more action going forward as this is direct and timely. i have serious concerns about where we are in the process. it's inconceivable that none of the tests conducted by takata over the past year, on over 30,000 inflaters, has given us a clearer picture and dictated more direct action. why is it that we still don't have any deployment testing being done by anyone decides takata? at what point do we accept we need to eliminate defective inflaters and implement a new design and manufacturing process? are all the drivers side air bag replacements now using different inflater compounds? what is different about the passenger side inflaters? we do have many questions today. most important question of all, however, does not involve compounds, rings or moisture. it is simply this. when will we have a plan that

can be presented to the public, identifies who is affected and when they will have a safe, not a safer but a safe, replacement part available? nothing is more important. nothing else is acceptable. in the meantime, the driving public should continue checking their vehicle identification numbers against the database to see if their vehicle is affected. this includes vehicles that have previously been recalled. chair recognizes -- we have to yield the balance of time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the witnesses from both panels for being here. as the chairman said this is an issue that we have followed are continuing to work on, and you're going to see us stay with this issue. the fact that we have these air bag ruptures and have caused

serious injury and death is of concern to us. i questioned takata at the last hearing about a november 19th 2014 "new york times" article which noted that engineers at takata's moses lake washington facility raised serious concern about the use of ammonium nitrate as an air bag propellant propellant. that was 1999. yet, they persist with this. questions persist. i thank you all for being here for our hearing. i yield back. >> gentle lady yields back the chair. the chair recognizes the chair subcommittee ranking member. >> thank you for holding today's hearing on takata air bag recall. the american people deserve to know what went wrong with takata's air bags and why it took so long to discover and how the committee and this congress will respond to ensure that it never happens again. chairman recently lyly lyly lyly remarked

about his air bag deployment after hitting a deer and said maybe i'm lucky it wasn't takata. many americans aren't as lucky. we have a guest here today angelina, who was a victim -- raise your hand -- was a victim of a takata air rupture. six people have been killed. it was three years ago. angelina was in a car accident, 25 miles per hour. shrapnel from a defective air bag ripped her chest, and we're thankful to have her here today. here's an example of such an air bag that has these holes in it. where the -- am i in the wrong side? here we go. it shows where the shrapnel came out. this is an example. these are examples of these

sharp pieces that landed in her chest in two places. these are not the exact ones, but shrapnel like this. it is very, very dangerous. we need to stop it. my big concern about this recall is that the root cause really has not been yet determined. we've been told that a combination of factors including humidity and age contribute to air bag ruptures. we don't know whether the flaws in the design, manufacture, installation or some other aspect of the air bag, which means that we still can't be sure that replacement air bags being installed now are any safer. this is really dangerous. we need to know what caused this failure to make sure it doesn't happen again. as we wait for those questions to be answered, there are steps we can take right now to improve vehicle safety. many of those are included in hr 1181. the vehicle safety improvement act legislation that i

introduced earlier this year. along with my colleague and several others, frank the ranking democrat on the full committee. i'm hoping my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in this bill. 2014 was the year of the recall. half of all roadscars on the roads were recalled. gm honda and others failed their customers and lived were lost as a result. the vehicle safety improvement act takes valuable lessons from the recalls and addresses existing weaknesses and information sharing, oversight and accountability regarding auto safety. the legislation includes several provisions that would have benefitted consumers whose cars have those faulty air bags. one, the bill would more than double the funding for vehicle safety programs. a priority that has been underfunded by this congress. two, hr 1181 would increase the quantity and quality of information shared by auto

manufacturers. not only with nitsa but with the public and congress. had more information been diagnosed earlier, i believe lives could have been saved. three, the bill would require manufacturers to fix all recalled vehicles free of charge. rather than just those that were purchased within the past ten years. takata has indicated that age of air bags is a contributing factor to ruptures. many of the vehicles with defective air bags are more than ten years old. this should be subject to mandatory fixes. under the legislation, nitsa would also have new imminent hazard authority to expedite recalls related to dangerous defects. it would eliminate the regional recall program, ensuring that all cars subject to a recall are repaired regardless of their location. both of those changes would have improved the speed, scope of the takata recall. the ongoing investigation into takata air bag ruptures may

identify additional policies that would limit the risk of similar recall in the future. if it does, we should enact them as soon as possible. in the meantime, we can't afford to wait to act on legislation that we know would save lives. it's not just democrats who want action. a who is who of leading organizations support hr 1181. i really urge my republican colleagues to join me in this legislation. i ask unanimous consent that this letter be added to the record. >> so ordered. >> i am eager to hear answers from our witnesses about what led to this massive failure how to prevent another one in the future. in the meantime, we can't delay common sense safety improvements that will save lives. i urge the committee to advance the vehicle safety improvement act without delay. i yield back. >> chair recognizes the

gentleman from michigan for an opening statement. >> an air bag is a safety measure you hope you never have to use. if you need it you need to have it work exactly right. yes, i had my own incident going back for the memorial daybreak in michigan less than two weeks ago. it was dark. it was at night. there wasn't much of a moon. i was driving at 70 miles per hour when i hit not one deer but two. i was lucky. the seat belt worked. air bag deployed, just as they were designed. it was a scary moment for anyone, and i remember thinking, i'm lucky i didn't have a defective takata air bag at the time. then i thought safety of your air bag can't be just a game of luck. being from the auto state, which includes takata's headquarters, j how complicated cars are and how much goes into each and every part. cars are certainly safer today than ever before, as miles

driven. deaths and injuries have gone down. what concerns me today though are the multi-year safety investigations where we can identify a problem but a solution is nowhere in sight. where the preferred approaches are band-aids instead of an effective cure. in these takata air bags we have a problem. it has persisted for years. again, we have nitsa opening up an initial investigation and closing it before revisiting it years later. the technology truly is rocket science. you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that more needs to be done and should have been done quicker. when lives are put in jeopardy delay is deadly. it wasn't much doubt at our december hearing last year that the air bags were defective. it took six months to say so. dr. rosekind was not the administrator when we held our last hearing in december and there's been some positive movement of late. takata is now changing its

formulation of propellant in the replacement on the driver's side either because someone else is making it or they were using improved formulations of their own. this isn't the case on the passenger's side. instead, they continue to try to perfect a set of manufacturing variables which for ten years or many have resisted perfection. we trust that this time the moisture won't get in and everything else will be just perfect. once we have safe replacements we need people to actually be able to replace them. recall rates at 15% to 30% are unacceptable. we have to understand what the plan is from nitsa and the auto makers. nitsa will act as a central coordinator. such a move seems warranted if not overdue. we need to clearly understand the plan so it can be relayed to the public. the messaging around these air bag recalls has been tortured at best. we need more information, clear information for consumers. i'm concerned that nitsa and takata decided to release headline grabbing recall numbers

at a time when the information is not yet actionable for consumers. drivers read about the recall. biggest one in history. but could not look up if their car was part of the recall, including mine, a week or two after my incident. how does that help safety? surely a better way exists. at a time the committee should be updating nitsa the rollout of better safety technologies and improve recall, we are instead forced to understand why safety, our highest priority seems relegated to the back. testing is overdue. change is overdue. safe replacement parts are overdue. six months i asked the question, what should i say to the mom in michigan who asked me if she and her family are safe behind the wheel? six months later, i unfortunately have to ask the same question. we will have as many hearings as needed and require as much reports as needed to ensure this problem is resolved. restoring the safety of our

nation's roadways and trust of the american people. i yield back the balance of my time to mr. lance. >> thank you. distinguished members of the committee. i telephoned my car dealer last week. i have a 2004 honda accord. i did not indicate my title. i just telephoned as a regular and ordinary citizen. i was told that i will need a new air bag. it seems to me that one of the main purposes of this hearing is to make sure that mr. and mrs. john q. public are aware of the recall. are able to be informed quickly as to whether their ability is affected. one of 34 million inflaters recalled. and be confident the replacement is safe. during this subcommittee's hearing six months ago, takata's witness indicated extreme reluctance to cooperate with

nitsa's request for an expanded recall. i characterized the witness as ten tendentious. i hope that the recent change of heart will be sincere. occurs after being fined $14,000 a day. i look forward to discussing this with the distinguished person now in charge, mr. rosekind. mr. chairman, i hope that this will be a hearing of great substance for the american people. >> chair thanks the gentleman. chair recognized the ranking member for five minutes for opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. though it has taken months, i'm glad that takata finally admitted that its air bags are defective and moved forward with national recalls. getting dangerous cars off the road is crucial. air bags are supposed to save lives and not take lives.

these national recalls came after a full year in which we've seen a sloppy rollout of recalls of these air bags. each auto maker handled it differently. some has regional safety campaigns and high humidity areas. others had regional recalls. others expanded their recalls to more states and some had national recalls of certain cars. one auto maker advised against passengers using front seats until the air bags are fixed, even offering to disable passenger air bags as a precaution. all of this has led to considerable confusion for the public. drivers are unsure if their cars are part of the recall. those that had their air bag replaced don't know if they need to have it replaced again. people don't know if their cars are safe to drive. this is the second hearing the subcommittee has held on the takata air bag recalls, and the first hearing was six months ago. in that time, we're still left

with many of the same questions. we still do not know the root cause of the takata air bag defects. we certainly know enough to take action. while i appreciate and share the majority's concerns about this takata crisis, i am disappointed by its lack of action. auto safety is not a partisan issue. however, even after the gm ignition snitch issues the takata air bag ruptures and back to the toyota acceleration problems, this committee failed to take appropriate legislative action. earlier this year, the subcommittee ranking member and i, and she mentioned it with a number of other members of the subcommittee introduced the vehicle safety improvement act of 2015. the bill would address problems that occurred in the takata air bag and the gm ignition switch recalls. i mentioned to the congresswoman that my car, a chevy impala, 2008, i still have it was

subject to the ignition switch issue. i received a notice in the mail. there was still some confusion even on my part as to what this was all about. i was told until i had the opportunity to go to the chevy dealer, that i should separate the two parts of the key from the key chain or whatever this thing is called. i continued to do that, even after they fixed the key. i had to look up and see if my vin number was one of the impalas that had to be recalled. even in my mind, there is a lot of confusion about what was being accomplished. i think that's why we need legislation. the national highway transportation safety administration received much of the blame in the gm and takata recall. they do not have the resources and authorities they need to protect drivers and passengers and hold the suppliers accountable for safety defects.

our bill provides resources and tools to nitsa increasing fines for manufacturers that violate vehicle safety laws. in both cases, auto makers and parts suppliers failed to produce critical information that may have helped to identify problems earlier. the bill improves the early warning reporting system by making the information public and requiring manufacturers provide more information about any fatal accident involving a safety defect. chairmans, i appreciate your interest in what you've said today in terms of continued oversight of the recalls. i think we need to begin our legislative work and not just talk about more investigations. i hope we can work together to move forward for the bill to keep our citizens safe on the roads. i yield back. >> chair thanks the gentleman. that concludes the member opening statements. chair would remind members that pursuant to committee rules, all opening statements will be part

of the record. we thank all our witnesses for being here today. taking the time to testify before the subcommittee. today's hearing will consist of two panels. each will have an opportunity to give an opening statement followed by a round of questions from members. once we conclude with the questions on the first panel, we'll take a brief recess to set up for the second panel. our first panel today will consist of a single witness. administrator mark rosekind. we appreciate you being here today. you are now recognized for five minutes to summarize your opening statement. >> chairman burgess ranking member and members of the subcommittee, thank you for an opportunity to provide the up updates on the takata air bags. let me summarize what nitsa has done and what we're doing. all actions are focused on achieving one main goal. the only acceptable goal, a safe air bag in every american

vehicle. may 19th the secretary and nitsa announced defect reported filed. 33.8 million defected air bag inflaters had been shipped. takata as an original equipment supplier does not know to which vehicles the inflaters were installed. prior to the filing auto makers recalled a total of 18.5 million vehicles. all of the may 19th filed defect reports involve recalls that are national in scope. since may 19th 11 auto manufacturers have been scouring their own records to determine which vehicles are affected. to date auto makers filed additional recalls bringing the total to 30.4 million vehicles. during the may 19th announcement, nitsa made clear the consumers might have to wait to determine if their vehicles were covered by the recall, while auto makers made their own filings. as you know, takata's defect filings were a necessary first step before the auto makers

would initiate their own filings. the auto makers filings contain the detailed make and model information and vehicle identification number or vin numbers that allow individual vehicle owners to determine if they're affected by the recall. this delay is fraus traited. if there was a way to avoid the anxiety, it would have been done. in the philosophy, and like all our other interactions we follow a simple philosophy. make information available to consumers as quickly as possible. to that end nitsa established recalls spotlight. it is located at safer car.gov and includes key consumer information on recall issues of high public interest. it includes continuously updated information on the takata recalls. may 19th and 20th after the dot nitsa announcement more than 1.5 million people conducted vin lookup searches on safer car.gov, including nearly 1 million on may 20th. on may 19th secretary fox

announce a consent order with takata that gives nitsa oversight into the testing requires its full cooperation with our investigation and importantly, gives us the ability to evaluate the addequacy of remedies. nitsa launched an administrative process, a remedy program to prioritize the actions of takata and the manufacturers. nitsa is using this authority provided us the safety act and by congress for the first time. we need to acknowledge congressman upton for driving the vision and working with others to provide a mechanism to address the challenges and circumstances that are now faced in this recall. many americans have asked whether we can trust remedy inflaters more than the defective inflaters. the content order, the remedy program and nitsa's own testing are essential actions designed to provide final answers to that critical question. nitsa will continue pursuing answers until the american

people can have a safe air bag in every vehicle. there continues to be great interest in establishing the root cause of these defects. while some factors appear to have a role, such as time and absolute humidity, the full story is not yet known. a root cause has not been identified. in my experience as an ntsb board member and veteran of major transportation investigations, it may be that there is no single root cause. or the root cause may never be known. secretary fox addressed this directly on may 19th. clearly stating that uncertainty cannot stop nitsa from acting to protect safety. in areas of uncertainty nitsa must act, focused on our safety mission. lastly, whatever the final numbers turn out to be, this may be the largest most complicated consumer safety recall in our nation's history. fixing this problem is a monumental task. it will require tremendous effort from the auto industry and nitsa. yet, the agency must manage this

enormous and necessitas necessary task. they must investigate scores of potential defects and oversee more than 1200 other recall campaigns that auto makers and equipment manufacturers now have underway. nitsa must accomplish this task with a defects investigation budget that, when adjusted for inflation, is 23% lower than it's budget ten years ago. nitsa needs your help to protect the safety of americans on our country's roads. the president has submitted a budget request that would fund significant improvements in the defective investigation efforts, providing the people and technology needsed to keep americans safe. the administration has proposed the grow america act, which provides stable, increased funding for our agency important safety agencies to help in our mission. the act and in the recently

introduced bill, if the authority had been available to nit nitsa, this hearing would have a different focus. we address safety risks every day. i urge the members of the subcommittee and colleagues in congress to help nitsa address the safety risks and keep the traveling public safe on america's roadways. thank you. >> chair thanks the gentleman. we'll move into the question and answer portion of the hearing. start by recognizing myself for five minutes for questions. mr. administrator, again thank you very much for being here. thank you for making yourself available to me in person on the telephone as you worked through this process. just so people are clear, the vin number we keep talking about, the vehicle identification number, keep can access that number at the lower left hand of the windshield or inside the driver's door? >> i hope they're paying attention to you. they can find the vin in that location and go to safer car.gov to see if their vehicle is in the recall.

>> that's the website, safer car.gov. if someone checked their vin number and got the all clear on may 1st do they need to do anything further or are they good to go? >> we suggest people check it on a weekly basis. >> you issued the additional recall in the middle of may. how quickly can people assume you're getting the uploaded information into your website so if they check the website they can be confident that the information they get is current? >> thank you for that question. clarity for consumers is critical here. takata had to file their defect reports before the auto manufacturers could put together their information. what's clear is we can't just give numbers. they have to be accurate. they have to do their due diligence and then we have to do ours. at this point, we have 7 out of the 11 manufacturers provided the information, which are now covering up to 30.4 million vehicles. weekly, people should be checking.

>> so is there anything else that you can do or we can do to make certain that this process is clearly and effectively communicated to the driving public? >> i think you just did part of it and we're trying to do the same thing, which is give people safer car.gov and helping them on a weekly basis go. the auto manufacturers stepped up and really provided an accelerated production of the numbers, which we're checking. they're getting up quickly. >> that brings up the other point. their ability to access the remedy inflaters. where do we stand with that? the production and distribution of the remedy inflaters, where are you? >> again very important for people to understand the whole process. i won't give the whole list but part of this whole hearing is really addressing is before may 19th there was a denial of a defect focus of root cause, concern about the supply chain,

whether the remedy worked. that all changed on may 19th. >> i'll stop you there. we're no longer concerned if the rem remedy works? >> we absolutely are. on may 19th the focus changed. there's been acknowledgment by takata that there is a recall and they're national. the second is a consent order which allows nitsa to be directly involved and oversight for testing to make sure the remedy will be adequate or not. the third part is a coordinated remedy program. which goes to the question. that is now nitsa is in the driver's seat. we will coordinate and prioritize to make sure the supplies are available and that they get out there as quickly as possible. >> just so people are clear to cut through the talk surrounding this, are the replacement devices safe? not safer, but safe. unequivocally safe. >> thank you because that's an important, confusing point. people need to look up their vin number now. if they have a recall to go get

a replacement inflater. they need to do that. they have to point out, there are millions of air bags that are out there every day protecting people, including millions by takata that are functioning properly. we are trying to get the defective ones off. so, yes, they need to get it fixed. what we will do is identify if there is an interim remedy. some of these may not have the longevity needed to make sure it is a lifelong for the entire life of the vehicle fix. >> so what am i supposed to do? one of my kids says, i have a bad vin number but they have a replacement and i'll get it fixed. am i okay with that? am i okay letting my child drive that car? >> your dealer should be able to tell you whether they have a fix that is long term or if they have an interim remedy. the bad news is, if there is an interim remedy, you should get a call back from the dealer when it's time to get that fixed for the long term. >> even somebody gets it fixed may not have it fixed? >> and the dealer better make

that clear. >> i want to ask one thing quickly. i was interviewed on a national business show last week. pointed out to me that in new york, i guess is where the show originated, they called dealers around the town and said they were laughed at when they said, can we bring in our vehicle to get our air bag changed? they did not have the supplies. i did the next logical thing and called my local guy who does all things cars. back in the district. he actually provided me some what i think is some -- this was recent information. number one, no one is reporting panic or irate customers as a result of the recall. i do remember a few months ago, dealers were complaining about mad customers. i'm going to assume this is when there was no process in place. only one dealer had a real volume for replacements. another had 1,000 that needed to be replaced but no one was bringing the vehicles in. that is and will continue to be a problem that people aren't recognizing their vehicle needs

to be fixed. my time has expired. the gentle lady from illinois. five minutes, please. >> i think it's really important what you said earlier, not all of the vin numbers are up yet. is that true? so people need to be checking. they may be driving a -- with a takata air bag that will -- and their vehicle may be recalled. but it's not up online right now. right? >> that's correct. >> okay. >> we have 7 out of the 11 manufacturers. >> people should not necessarily feel secure but they should keep checking. i wanted to talk about one of the authorities that would be in the vehicle safety improvement act. that would be to give nitsa more authority itself for recalls. the first known takata air bag inflater rupture occurred in 2004. may 2004.

that's 11 years ago. and months after nitsa called for national recalls, which was last november, takata has finally relented because it is still within their authority to do that. nitsa currently has no authority to take emergency action, even in cases where defects are known and there is strong and immediate risk of serious injury or death. so dr. rosekind, in november of last year, nitsa called for this national recall of certain vehicles with defective driver side air bags. takata refused to conduct the national recall. i know you weren't there at the time, but if nitsa had had the authority to mandate emergency recalls, do you think the agency -- or let me put it this way -- would you have used it with regard to takata? >> thank you for the rephrasing. starting my confirmation hearing, i made it clear nitsa

will use every tool available. if that was available we would have used it. >> thank you. as i said, this legislation does allow for imminent hazard authority to recall. nitsa testified before the subcommittee in the past, asking for that authority. i guess you've already stated, you agree with the need for that authority? >> absolutely. >> and would it have been beneficial to nitsa, in carrying out its mission to reduce death, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes? >> absolutely. just to highlight what you're focused on is an imminent hazard would have allowed us to get the air bags off the road. there are procedures to make sure everything is done transparency, officially. we wouldn't have been waiting. there could have been lived saved and injuries prevented with imminent hazard authority. >> there are a number of other

provisions in the vehicle safety improvement act. it would double the funding for nitsa. first, let me have you comment on that. in terms of the resources that you have to do the job that needs to be done, and that i think americans all expect is being done. >> at my confirmation hearing in december, i highlighted people technology and authorities that we needed to look at those. i got the nitsa and found out it was underresourced than i ever imagined from the outside. since i've been there, we have done everything we can and will be doing with what we have available to us. i could give you a list of 29 different things that have gone on, process improvements, et cetera. at some point, you need people and authority to get the job done. that's a concern. i highlighted even in december there are eight people looking at 80,000 complaints coming in. there are now eight people in the recall group that have to deal with this recall, 34 million vehicles and the other

1200 campaigns going on at the same time. >> i think it would be helpful to this committee, that if you had additional resources, to tell us exactly how that would be used and how then it would improve consumer safety. i would appreciate seeing that. >> i'd be happy to do that. in fact, in the president's 2016 proposal we've identifyied what our request for enhanced funding. we can talk about a trend analysis division special investigation for defects. we can provide that to you. >> i'd appreciate it. the legislation that some of us are co-sponsoring would increase civil penalties, eliminate most statutory maximum penalties to make sure that bad actors have rein incentive to get the bad vehicles off the road. it would make sure that -- would eliminate what i think is really the farce of regional recalls. wonder if you could comment on those provisions.

>> sure. just as far as the cap goes grow america goes to $300 million. u.s. has no cap. clearly, the message is $35 million is not enough to get an effect. anything that gets us to $300 million or beyond would be great. i think, as far as regional recalls, my perspective is that everything is national. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the time has expired. chair recognized mr. upton, five minutes for questions. >> thank you mr. chairman. again, welcome your appearance before us. wish you all the best. i've -- i want you to know that i've made an inquiry. i don't know what the appropriation committee did in regard to the nitsa budget but i will find out soon. prior to the may 19th announcement, what efforts did you do to coordinate with the auto manufacturers so they could identify the vin numbers impacted by the recall?

>> before i go specifically to that, let me just say there were a lot of actions and inactions before may 19th. it's already been raised here that takata was pressured to go for national recall, denied any defect. we do have to acknowledge -- >> we saw that in december back here, too, before you were on board. >> that's exactly correct. and the auto manufacturers stepped up to actually take on those recalls, service campaigns and other things, even though takata was deanyniydenying. >> to use my own personal experience, i don't do this often, but with my incident coming back to michigan for the memorial daybreak, i did plug into safer cars.com with my vin number. i'm not sure that we still can determine today, it was a ford explorer '06. i can't really tell today even if it was a takata air bag or trw or whoever it was. the information was not readily

available when i got online last week. >> that's why the information that's coming back in safer car.gov is really just recall or not. it won't give you the specific -- >> it wasn't on the recall list. >> you'd be clear if be clear if there wasn't a recall. >> i'm supposed to be checking every week? >> on a weekly basis which is a good thing to do anyway because of the number of recalls come out, to check that on a regular basis, airbags aside that's a good source to have book marked to go back. >> so the auto manufacturers really did step up then is what you're saying? all of them? >> and that was to, again, previously when takata denied the manufacturer stepped up to look at recalls and what they could do to your question specifically, we had contact with them the day before to let them know something was coming related to the defect so they would have a heads up and since then i've been in contact with them about the coordination that's coming forward. >> so you and i talked in advance of the announcement and

what is the timetable what is the goal, the timetable for completely resolving the issue, being able to identify which vehicles have these defective air bags, getting them replaced, making sure that the owners are there, what is your hopeful time frame for this to be resolved and can move to the next issue? >> at this point, i believe if anybody gave you a number, they don't know what they're talking about. here is our plan to get there, and that is we've already initiated contact to have meetings with both the auto manufacturers and suppliers. other meetings bringing all of them together, that will create a plan that will look at the effectiveness of the remedy, the supply, and basically getting to 100% recall. we hope to have a public hearing by the fall that will lay all of that out all three of those elements. >> what steps have you taken to has nhtsa taken to ensure the

propellant safety and integrity of the study's testing being submitted to nhtsa from various parties? that seems to be a real element here. >> thank you for highlighting that. part of the consent order allows nhtsa to directly focus the testing so that can go to theed a a aadequacy of the remedy. before they were on the receiving end and now question end. as you know everybody was focussed on a root cause which is still not determined, nobody focusing on the remedy. >> so when someone has one of these defective air bags, they didn't replace just the propellant, is that right, they have to take the whole thing out and put a whole new device in with a different propellant is that right? >> that's correct. >> thank you, thank you very much for being here. i yield back. >> the chair thanks the gentleman and recognizes mr. pallone

pallone, five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. on february 20th of this year nhtsa sent a letter to takata informing the company its failure to cooperate with the investigation of the airbag defect as well as takata's prior knowledge of the defect would result in fines of $14,000 per day for each data kata failed to cooperate. by the time the fines were suspended under the consent order last month takata had been fined about $is.2 million. doctor, how much of the $1.2 million that takata owes in fines has the company paid to ntsa? >> basically with the concert order they made sure the investigation continues as well as the potential for future penalties, so at this point nothing's been collected because we're looking at an open investigation with potentially future penalties to be collected. >> so when do you expect that the penalties will actually be paid to the agency? >> that could be at any time and part of that, i think will come as the investigation continues. we're focused right now on the

safety element of it. as it unfolds there may be need for again further penalties and i'm sure that would be part of the package that would be it shall -- >> i was going to ask you about further penalties but you obviously think you do, there say possibility of additional civil penalties against takata. >> yes. >> okay, a reuters article cited a source within takata saying the daily fine was a fact to motivate takata to a national recall but took three months to get them to agree. are financial incentives an effective means of ensuring compliance amongst manufacturers, in your opinion? >> no question, and i think from the earlier question going to 35 to 300 or no cap is critical. if i can take just a moment i would highlight that there was the penalty, there was a preservation order, and frankly nhtsa was working on a unilateral program to go after this, that we made sure was communicated to takata as well. >> do you believe that increasing the size of the statutory penalties would have allowed nhtsa to put more

pressure on takata and other automakers to reach an agreement to conduct a national recall sooner? >> no question. >> okay, last year gm was find the statutory maximum of $35 million for its failed handling of the ignition switch recall. transportation secretary anthony fox asked congress to raise or eliminate the statutory maximums in order to send a stronger message to bad actors. i mean it's impossible to put a price on the cost of a serious injury or loss of life, no financial penalty or compensation can bring back a family member, but stronger financial incentives can go a long way in deterring manufacturers from hiding defects and not cooperating with federal investigations, so as i mentioned, congresswoman siatkowskki and others introduced the vehicle safety improvement act which would raise per violation civil penalties but also eliminate most statutory maximum

penalties. so do you believe stronger financial penalties would discourage automakers and parts suppliers from hiding possible defects or incentivize quicker action from manufacturers? >> absolutely. >> all right, and lastly i wanted to ask you would increased fines make automakers more likely to cooperate with nhtsa investigations? >> yes. >> all right thank you very much. thank you, mr. chairman. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from tennessee five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman and mr. rosekind i thank you so much for taking your time in being here. let's go back to your november 18th second special order to takata, where they were to come to you with information, further information about their propellant mix, and what we would like to know is what you have been given, what you know

about that mix, what is the specific use of that mix in the replacement parts or the remedy parts as you call them and in new vehicles? >> and i can provide as much technical information as you'd like. but you've identified one of the special orders that actually triggered the daily penalties started because we basically had 2.4 million documents dumped on us with all of that information and try to understand where the meaningful pieces were, so we have some of the meaningful pieces now identified, and we can certainly bring you as much technical information as was provided. >> are you satisfied with the information that takata has provided to you on their propellant mix? >> we're still working our way through that information. they have open about providing us testing data. >> okay. >> but the information that you're asking about was millions and millions of pages that have grown from that 2.4 so we're still making our way through that. >> okay. are they being forthcomeing in

bringing clarity to that? we want to know what the mix is the propellant mix is. so are they satisfying the questions that consumers will have when they want to know this component that is in their vehicle that is to make the vehicle safe now explodes it causes injury and the question is, have they arrived at something that is going to make certain that indeed it is safe? >> i would say they will now. that's part of the consent ordinary that they are required to provide that information. >> so you're satisfied. i think if you could just have someone from your team provide a summary so that we will have that for the record, that would be helpful to us for future hearings and for legislation. also, let me go to the point that was made back to that december hearing we had that ammonium nitrate was used as

propellant in the 1990s, and so what we would like to know, have you all found any evidence of ruptures from the, that occurred in the '90s, and if not, does nhtsa have any insight into why not? >> that's a good question. again i'll go back and make sure that's part of the information that we provide you. what's really important about the consent order is we now get to be in the driver's seat to direct this kind of testing. we'll be looking at it both historically and see how that informs what we need to do now. >> okay, we would love to have that as a follow-on, if you will, as to what occurred in the '90s and as you go back and do a revisit of the information that you have that would be helpful. one last thing, you mentioned that the auto manufacturers and they had been doing their part in meeting this. i want to know if you're satisfied with how the dealers

are being compensated for this. they are being made whole because if everyone is taking their car in for the replacement, that's a lot of loaner cars that's a lot of manhours, so would you speak to that? >> actually i'd suggest you ask that, the individual on the next panel because we would be focused on that only if it interfered with the recall. >> okay, we are going to ask the next panel that but wanted your insight also and with that mr. chairman, i yield back. >> the chair thanks the gentlelady. the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you very much mr. chair. i appreciate you being here and appreciate your service to the country and your willing to testify today. i want to touch base with you a little bit you've heard some of my colleagues already mention the vehicle safety improvement act. i want to touch on particularly the need for safety upgrades for

used cars. used car sales in march and april of this year reached more than 3 million sold for each months but purchasers face loopholes when it comes to auto safety, most do not know it. the vehicle safety improvement act would take two concrete steps toward making our used car market safer. first the bill would require the buyer's guide window form to indicate repair and recall history. second prohibit dealers from selling or leasing used vehicles subject to a recall until the dealer repaired the defects. dr. rosekind, i'm concerned that consumers have an implicit perception that used cars are safe and free of defect and that dealers have made all necessary repairs. is that true or what light can you shine on that problem? >> this is part of the grow america proposal part of what you're describing and i guess i can't imagine that you would sell a new car used, leased et

cetera, if you knew there was a defect involved, not to have it fixed before you put it in somebody's hands, just seems like we don't have the system working properly. >> i would agree. purchaser of a car with the national vehicle title information system but that information is available only if the purchaser knows where to find it benefit from knowing that a used car they intend to purchase has been previously junked salvaged or marked as a total loss? >> any information that's going to help them determine the safety of that vehicle is going to be useful to that consumer no question. >> no the vehicle safety improvement act requires information from the vehicle history report to be made available through the national motor vehicle title information system to be included in a buyer guide window form. do you think that's a smart provision to go for? >> every piece of safety provision is helpful.

>> current dealers are prohibited to leasing or selling vehicles under recall but the same regulation does not apply to used cars, used cars may be sold or leased to consumers with unrepaired defects. the average recall completion rate for vehicles is about 75%, meaning a full 25% of all recalled cars are not being repaired. for the takata airbag recall the completion rate so far has been much, much lower. in many of these cases the cars not being repaired because the current owner of the vehicle doesn't know anything about the recall. so what efforts has nhtsa undertaken to increase at wareness of used car buyers and lessees about the potential safety defects and what obstacles does nhtsa face in getting the information out to consumers? >> i don't think there's any question this is a huge part of the whole system and secretary fox and i really have emphasized finding defects is great but if you don't get them fixed doesn't really matter. so we actually held at the end

of april an event called retooling recalls, asking the industry for new ideas and have set the standard as 100% target to get recalls done. >> so do you agree the provision of the vehicle safety improvement act that hibts the sale or lease of cars until the defect is remedied. >> absolutely. >> would it make drivers of the cars safer? >> absolutely. >> are there other tools that would help nhtsa improve the safety of those cars what would they be? >> in from our event in april there's a great list of things that could be done and we had manufacturers talk about their new strategies and there were some new things that only one manufacturer is doing. we need to figure out what snrks htsa can do to get them across the industry. >> doctor, how can this committee be of any service to you as you try to get that information out? >> frankly i think the bill introduced and grow america act are two things as far as our authorities and budget and directly there's the budget

which allows us not just people but the authorities and other kinds of opportunities. >> and briefly, i only have a short period of time left but did i hear you say earlier in your testimony, doctor that there were, you had eight staff that were working on this recall, 34 million vehicles and that same staff of eight people working on 1,200 other recalls? >> there are 51 in the office of defect investigations. eight of them look at the 80,000 complaints that come in, different eight are handling this recall. >> so eight people? >> eight, correct. >> okay. thank you. i yield back. >> chair thanks the gentleman. the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chair nan. dr. rosekind, i went online regarding my own situation and the website is safecar.gov. >> safercar.gov. >> spell that out for the public, please. >> s-a-f-e-r-c-a-r.g-o-v.

safercar.gov. >> it has how many millions of v.i.n. numbers? >> the total number of v.i.n.s i can't tell you specifically for takata takata, we're up to 35.4 million vehicles. >> i know you're working as quick wills a you can but at the moment not all of the v.i.n. numbers are on that site and i was just lucky that my v.i.n. number had already come up but you're informing the american people through this committee hearing, which is being televised across this country that the american people should go on that website frequently. >> weekly. >> weekly. now, can you estimate mr. rose kind,rose rosekind, as to when you might have all the numbers up on the site? i know that's a difficult question. i'm just asking is there a time

frame that you think you might be able to have? >> we have seven out of 11 and the manufacturers are working quickly. i hope within the next two weeks we'll have the complete data set. >> so within the next two weeks? >> that's the plan. >> very good. now, i didn't ask this, because then i called the dealer and the dealer was very, very cooperative, and said that he thought he'd veigh new airbag within one week to four weeks and did i need a loaner car, but i didn't think to ask should the american people ask, is this for the driver or for the passenger, and i have no idea at the moment and perhaps i should, as to whether in my personal situation it's the driver or the passenger. as i understand it, some situations it's both. could you enlighten the committee and through the committee the american people on that aspect of all of this. >> safercar gov will tell you what the recall is for, driver passenger, both.

you'll know what to ask the dealer. you don't have to rely on the dealer to tell you. >> and are there situations where there will be the need for a new air bag for both the driver and the passenger in the same automobile? >> that could be. >> do the auto manufacturers themselves have the responsibility i trust to inform those who have purchased their automobiles of these potential defects? >> they make that information both through safercar.gov,er this the ones who provide us the make, model and vchblt.i.n. numbers and most provide that on their own websites as well. >> are they mailing letters to those who own the vehicles? >> yes there are recall letters that are officially labeled for people to know specifically what is being recalled. >> and do you know, dr. rosekind, how many of those letters have gone out so far?

>> that i would have to look into and get back to you. >> thank you. the "wall street journal" says today based upon a german study that there may be four factors that could lead to all of this, and inflator and airbag system in vehicles, prolonged exposure to heat and humidity and manufacturing variability. are you now analyzing the new study from the germans as to whether what they suggest may be true? >> so we are looking, we are both aware of that report and looking at that, plus there are multiple folks doing testing you're going to hear from an independent testing coalition of the auto manufacturers, takata is doing its own, automakers doing their own, the consent order will give us access to all of that data and you just highlighted, last quick comment why this is so difficult but over ten different configurations of the inflator

across all the different makes and models is part of the problem to figure out what the root cause is then. >> as i understand it, part of this is using bat wing shape wafers inside airbags. would you through the committee explain to the american people what that means? >> that has to do with the shape or design basically of the propellant container, and that's a perfect example of the different design configurations that are in over ten different of these inflators and that's part of the problem. there's some takata airbags and certain manufacturers that have ruptured in some but not other manufacturers' cars. >> thank you. you've been very helpful and let me say i look forward to the testimony of the second panel and mr. chairman i yield back the balance of my time. >> the chair thanks the gentleman and recognizes the gentleman from california five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you, dr. rosekind for all of your service and for answering our questions today not only for us but for the people we represent throughout the country. i'm going to start off by

talking about your administration to get an understanding of how, what they are doing to make sure they have the resources to protect the american public or help protect the american public one estimate puts the numbers of vehicles on the road 2014 at about 253 million, nearly 4 million more than the estimate of 2013. meanwhile in spite of the growing number of vehicles nhtsa's budget has remained relatively flat over the past threw years. fiscal year 2016 budget appropriation of $837 million continues this trend coming in more than $70 million short of nhts's request. do you believe there the funding for nhtsa part of the do more with less culture resulted from sequestration has made it harder for the administration to do its job of keeping unsafe vehicles off the roads?

>> there is' no question nhtsa with safety risks every day the budget and personnel and authority issues are helping create more risk for us. from my confirmation hearing i've ideaed dealing with people's -- we've done and will continue to do everything internally process wise procedurally that we can to be more effective but at some point eight people to look at 80000 complaints up from 45,000 the year before, now you're just talking, you know people that could get the job done. >> well, i constantly hear, i've been elected to office 18 years at various levels and i constantly hear some of my colleagues talk about fiscal conservativeness and talking about how government needs to operate more like a business. i don't know of too many businesses that responsibly act with eight human beings trying to handle 80,000, you know moving parts of issues and constituents. that's not efficiency. i think that's -- well

delinquency to be honest with you and not delinquent on you but on us the appropriators. i think we need to do a better job of protecting the american public or help you do your job of helping to protect the american public. the office of defect investigation, which is responsible for screening and reviewing 40,000 consumer complaints per year and conducting investigations of possible defects had 51 full time staff in march of 201 down from 64 in 2002. nhts's fiscal year 2016 budget request includes a request for funds to do, to more than double the number of odi personnel. dr. rosekind, is the 837 million that the house appropriations committee approved for the 2016 fiscal year is it sufficient for increasing the number of odi personnel? >> no, that basically flatlines where we are today and just to inflate that for you appropriately, that 40,000 number was last year. because of all the attention

last year that number is now 80,000 complaints coming in. doubled. >> that's where you get to the 80,000. >> yes, sir. >> thank you. it's clear that additional funding sources for nhtsa will be critical to ensuring the administration can keep drivers and passengers safe. that's why in addition to new appropriations specifically for nhts's vehicle safety programs hr-1181 would authorize a new vehicle safety user fee, this fee would be paid by vehicle manufacturers for each u.s. vehicle certified to meet federal safety standards. beginning at $3 per vehicle and increasing annually to $9 per vehicle but this could potentially generate tens of millions of dollars for nhtsa to spend specifically on safety. dr. rosekind do you think nhtsa would be able to find efficient and effective ways to channel

the money raised by such a fee into consumer safety? >> no question. and i think if anything, it's all about the safety mission for the agency and me. you give us more resources and we'll give you more safety. >> okay. and once again, looking at the numbers, the number of vehicle on american roads has grown correct? >> yes. >> and fortunately and unfortunately when we have better systems of identifying when there is a defect that means that we are much more aware quicker of how many more in this case millions of people need to be notified and coordinated with, et cetera, so that we can actually get them in a safer place with a product that has been identified as being defective, correct? >> no question. we want to move the whole industry to a more proactive safety culture. early identification means early intervention. small numbers, we wouldn't be where we are today. >> i think americans take it for granted we have the systems. i think unfortunately too many americans ignore the idea that congress is not doing its job with properly appropriating so that they are safe.

thank you very much. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky, five minutes for questions. >> thank you mr. chairman for recognizing me and thank you for being here today we appreciate it. i have a question. you mentioned talking about going to the number that you have the information from 7 of 11 manufacturers. is there a timeline do you think you'll have the other four? >> that was asked earlier, and our plan is to have that within two weeks, if not sooner. the manufacturers are moving very quickly not just about getting the numbers it's checking the accuracy which both they and nhtsa has to do. >> that's the process it's taken? >> yes. >> takata suggested that the particular make and model of the vehicle may be contributing to the inflator defects. has nhtsa reviewed that analysis and come to the conclusion of that? >> that's part of the problem with the root cause right now. there are not just ten plus different designs of the inflators, but we're looking at

different makes and models so that's exactly what the difficulty is. there are some takata inflators in a make and model that has not ruptured, the same inflator in a different make and model might rupture so when you think about all the different variations you have to look for, that is why it's a challenge right now to find the root cause. >> earlier, it seems like it's difficult to recreate the problem. you can't figure out exactly the root cause. vehicles last a lot longer than they used to, people have them for quite a while, change oil and tires are rotated. is there any manufacturer or vehicle that says routine maintenance at all on airbags that you know of? >> it's a very good question. i don't believe so but i'll get a specific answer for you. the average vehicle is in service for 11.4 years, many of the statutes out there only go to ten or surpassed by the vehicles on the road now. >> so obviously people who buy a

vehicle expect their airbag to last as long as the vehicle lasts. there's no routine maintenance -- it's a destructive test to check your airbag when you move forward. i have a question since december 3rd the hearing that we had in 2014, how many additional fatalities and injuries? you might have answered that but i don't know if i heard that while you were speaking. >> specifically we're aware of six worldwide, people that have lost their lives and at least 100 injured. >> and also mr. friedman testified in december you were going to hire an expert in propellant and bag production airbag production within a week of the last hearing. has that taken place hasn't it. >> yes, it is. we have at least four people on staff that know airbags quite well but now we have someone with particular expertise in the areas we're looking at that's been on staff. >> these four are they part of the eight you're describing so also looking -- >> clarify we have three or four

staff people with the expertise as well as a consultant outside that's been added and the three or four staff people are part of the eight that we have. >> part that you were describing. and so has there ever been an airbag consultant before? this is new, i guess, due to this issue? >> and this individual was picked specifically because of their expertise on the propellant side. with the inflator if you think about design and other elements we're focused on the chemistry of the propellant. >> thank you we appreciate you being here. we're all trying to find an answer because even since december of and the hundreds of injuries and we need to get to the bottom of it and thank you for being here today and i yield back, mr. chairman. >> the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the jendle lady from new york five minutes for your questions, please. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i thank our ranking member. dr. rosekind, thank you for all of your work and testimony here today. nhtsa first asked ta ta ka to

conduct takata to conduct a recall in 2014. takata responded by questioning nhtsa's authority to order the company to undertake a national recall. in a meeting held by this subcommittee takata reiterated its belief that a national recall was unwarranted although i should note that many of the auto manufacturers expanded their recalls anyway nearly six months to the day since the last hearing we are in a much different place, but also six months behind where we should be in getting these dangerous airbags out of our cars. dr. rosekind, in today's world, goods and services cross state lines without a second thought. our cars have an average lifetime of 11 years on the road and frequently spend time in all corners of the country during their lifetimes. given the realities of the world of which we live today is it possible for nhtsa to guarantee that a regional recall will be

sufficient? >> our approach has been my approach has been to make sure we focus on national recalls, and that was part of the challenge previously was to kata's denial that there was a defect and even though manufacturers stepped up there was a wide range of patchwork basically of service campaign some regional some national it was all over the place. may 19th, nhtsa took the driver's seat and our coordinated remedy will change all of that. >> yes, i don't think so either. hr-1181, the vehicle safety improvement act would eliminate the farce of regional recalls by making clear that all safety recalls of motor vehicles and replacement parts must be carried out on a national basis. the bill will also allow nhtsa to prioritize certain parts of the country when the quantity of replacement parts is limited. dr. rosekind, in the past nhtsa has supported recentlial recalls. early in this hearing you said that from your perspective,

recalls are national. can i then assume you support this provision of a vehicle safety act? >> we are interested in safety for everybody, so we start with the national recall. >> very well. takata written testimony states that for two of the takata airbags being recalled the recall will be regional and nhtsa will have to order takata to expand the recalls nationally. will you commit to expanding all of the takata recalls nationally now? >> i think it's been interesting to watch people's response to those two. those two passenger airbag inflators are the most problematic and so that basically is trying to ensure that the people at the highest risk get their fix as quickly as possible. if you read those defect reports, it expected that those will be national. >> so that means that we are looking to have a national

recall now? >> yes, with a very specific focus to make sure those problematic ones we get those high risk people covered as quickly as possible. >> the recalls of takata airbags began as safety improvement campaigns and regional recalls in only certain parts of the country with high absolute humidity. as nhtsa takata and car manufacturers learned more about the defect, and as inflator ruptures occurred outside those high humidity areas, the automakers each responded differently. some expanded their recalls to additional states, others expanded recalls nationally and the information for consumers was hard to find. it seems to me that the recentlygional recalls in this case only added to consumer confusion. i believe that conducting national recalls from the start with an allowance for prioritization of placement parts to our most vulnerable geographic areas first would have lessened the consumer confusion in this case. dr. rosekind, do you agree that

the rollout of the recalls could have been handled better from the very beginning? >> what i'm going to do is focus, which chairman byrd already said i think you beat me by a month or so being in the chairs and so i can speak to the last five months that we're going after national recalls for these to make sure every american gets a safe airbag in their vehicle. >> i just want to make sure that we learn from this lesson. >> absolutely. >> you know it's very interesting that we are trying to reorganize how we do things, if we know from the very outset that we can administer best practices going forward. >> absolutely. >> very well. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> the chair thanks the gentlelady. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from the high humidity city of houston texas, five minutes for your questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and welcome, dr. rosekind. before my questions, i want to

put a human face on a victim of a defective takata airbag. his name was carlos solis. he was 35 years old. lived in spring, texas, went to spring high school. loved to work with his brothers at progressive pumps. he bought a used 2002 honda accord, was involved in a minor crash on january 18th of this year. his airbag deployed, supposed to save his life, and took his life. he left mind a wife, nicole, and three kids devin alyssa and angelina. his vehicle had a recall put out in 2011. he bought the car in 2014. he had no clue that the vehicle

may be defective. he fell through the cracks. my question is how can nhtsa make sure carlos never happens again? how can we track the ownership of the vehicle with recall notices? >> first, thank you for recounting that. everyone at nhtsa could give you a number. in 2013 there were 13,792 lives lost on our roadways we know the exact number thank you because you gave to the six people that lost their numbers worldwide you gave a name and a face to one of those victims and i think the concern which has been raised here earlier that that was a person that had a used car that had a recall notice out and so people are buying used cars or renting cars that have recalls, defects, acknowledged defects that are not being fixed beforehand. so we are looking for through grow america the improvement act that's been introduced, ways of trying to fix that gap. >> some have to find ways and as make sure the ownership of the car follows recall notices.

carlos had no clue that his car was defective. he was driving what he thought a great vehicle, been out there since 2002 and gets in a minor accident and dies because his airbag killed him. i want to talk about mr. frieden, who came here in december and stated that nhtsa would look into the safety of replacement airbags, the one replacing and he said nhtsa was examining the airbag manufacturers to use the same propellant. my question is what is the status of those investigations, the new devices and the propellant? >> thank you, because this allows me to highlight the consent order that has been signed, will allow us to direct test. previously that was almost exclusively on root cause. now, we will have an ability to make sure the testing goes to the adequacy of the remedy, right to your question which is the variety of possible solutions aand we need to make sure testing goes on to examine those and make sure the replacements will be effective long-term.

>> are there other inflators that need to be examined from different models of vehicles? >> thank you. one of the concerns is we do not know the root cause at this point. on the other hand, we do know that there are plenty of inflators that are functioning successfully, in 2013 611,000 crashes were air bags deployed. so we know they can function and we know they're even different versions of takata air bags that are not rupturing. we have other models or examples that can be pursued to understand what to change now. >> final question about fatigue of recalls. i mean last year, the american people have been subjected with gm with recalls takata airbags the recalls start with them, i mean heck, this past year i got a new pickup truck a notification from gm there was some defect and some sensor so i had that taken down to the dealership dealership. do you think there's recall fatigue. recall after recall after

article and the american public say i'm tired of this, driving my car, it's fine. how do we fight recall fatigue? >> first of all i think it absolutely exists and we held an event in april called retooling recalls, one to readjust 75% may be good but we've readjusted the target to be 100% completion and then it was fantastic to see the number of manufacturers that are coming up with creative ways. some manufacturers actually taking their creative teams to help them sell vehicles and applying them to the recall so they're having special hours, having weekends with things for the kids private investigators are going to homes to locate these people, a whole list of new ideas and we're going to try and find a way to make sure everybody in the industry has access to those ideas and actually are following up to take action. >> on behalf of carlos solis thank you. i yield back. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. the chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina, five minutes for questions, please. >> thank you, very much mr. chairman. first, let me thank you chairman burgess, for holding

today's hearing. i think this is a very important hearing and hopefully we can get some good information into the record that can have a bearing directly on the issue that we are talking about. this is an important issue. i am somewhat surprised mr. chairman, to learn that takata airbag malfunctions have been linked to areas of high humidity. i'm not sure that i really knew that. if i knew it i didn't fully appreciate it until recently. i represent a very humid district down in north carolina, maybe not as humid as the districts are down in texas mr. chairman, but we are indeed in a region that is very humid from time to time. though north carolina is outside the designated high absolute humidity area, one of these airbag malfunctions occurred in my state causing me a great deal of worry about the safety and efficacy of airbags manufactured by takata and the potential for my constituents to be seriously harmed or even

worse. i also have concerns about what practical impact this recall and any recall will have on the rental car market and so i will be concentrating on this aspect during my question time today. the u.s. rental market is huge. we all acknowledge that in fact, one study estimates that there were nearly 2.1 million rental cars in service last year. however despite the scale of the market federal law does not require rental car companies to remedy defects before renting them to consumers so a company could rent a car subject to this recall without an airbag that has yet to be replaced. so dr. rosekind again, thank you for your testimony do you believe that rental car companies should be prohibited from renting a car unless all known recalls and defects have been repaired? >> if a defect has been identified, used cars and recalls should be fixed before they're allowed to put keys in

consumers' hands. >> that's as clear as it can be. do you think that most consumers would assume that a rental car, which may be newer than their own vehicle is a safe vehicle? >> and that's the problem. while we can have this hearing and talk about getting people for takata to go to safercar.gov, almost nobody who buys a used one will ever do that and that's a gap we have to fill. >> i drive a 1995 toyota and a 2000 ford explorer and all of the rental cars that i rent are much better than my personal vehicles. dr. rosekind, do you think consumers have a right to free loaner cars while their cars are getting repaired regardless if consumers are given loans on cars should there be a requirement those loaners themselves before being loaned have no outstanding recalls? >> so thank you for raising that question, it comes up often of

what people should do and we're telling people if there's concern about their takata inflator they should talk to their dealer or manufacturer about a loaner or rental car. >> recently congresswoman capps and myself introduced a bill that would prohibit a rental car that receives a notification about any defect or non-compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards to rent or sell the vehicle unless the defect isp dr. rosekind nhtsa has in the past supported similar legislation that prohibits rental companies from renting vehicles subject to a recall unless the defect is remedied. as the new nhtsa administrator do you continue to support this type of legislation? >> and the administration and secretary fox have done that as well through grow america which specifically has used car and rental car defect issues covered just that way. >> all right.

you're very clear in your responses and i thank you for the manner in which you responded. thank you very much, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> chair thanks the gentleman. the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, five minutes. >> thank you dr. rosekind for testifying today. it is my opinion that the takata spi inflator rupture may have been it's my understanding anyway that it may have been caused by high humidity. what is the minimum exposure period before an inflator is considered by takata to be at risk in a high humidity area, and if you have an opinion as to whether it was caused by hue humidity, i'd like to hear it as well. >> i'm going to put my ntsb hat on and say i'd be cautious saying probable cause at this point because there is no root cause but to your question there's no there's absolutely data that shows humidity because of the moisture can have an effect on the inflator and we

could get into the chemistry but your main question is what we've seen in the data, somewhere between 7.5 to about 12.3 years is where we're seeing that inflator can rupture. >> thank you. all right, next question is i understand nhtsa is helping prioritize the most urgently needed replacements to various parts of the country that need it most. in theory this approach would help manage a finite supply and ensure that the consumers who are most in danger are protected more quickly but this phased approach does not appear to match with nhtsa's rollout may 19th which grabbed headlines by covering 34 million vehicles. my constituents are in a high humidity area, i represent florida, but it is unclear whether they can now obtain replacement parts and if not at which point can they obtain replacement parts in the future, i'd like for to you answer that question. are replacement parts available

now in florida but maybe not available in financial new jersey and other parts of the country, and again, are there enough replacement parts available, period? >> so first i would say safercar will let them know if they're checking that. they see a recall for the vehicle they need to call their dealer. they will tell them if the part is available. for the second part no question that one of the issues that we have with our coordinated remedy program is to make sure sufficient supply of inflators are available across the country. >> thank you very much and representative clark covered the additional questions so i appreciate it very much and i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentlelady from indiana ms. brooks, five minutes for your questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have to say when you've testified, dr. rosekind, that nhtsa was working hard or you testified that doing testings in your own facility of your own so

you can verify the work takata is doing. can you give us a status update on the validation activities and is there a new nhtsa testing facility for these airbag inflators, can you just share with us what is happening with that progress? >> thank you for asking about that, because previously what nhtsa did was to arrange to have data available to us but this provides us another resource to actually verify the testing, and any testing, so whether it's takata's or the independent coalition, we'll be able to look at all of that. we have a facility in ohio that allows us to do some testing but because of the inflator rupture, we talk about ballistics testing you got to blow them up and have them rupture. battel is helping us do that and we have a plan outlined so as of may 19th that plan is under way. how many have been tested by this point, i can't say, but we have our own independent testing being done by an outside laboratory to help us do that. >> so you are now using because it required a different kind of testing than you had

capabilities for, now using an outside tester? >> correct. >> and do you have any idea how long the testing's been going on and how is it going? >> i'll get you specifics. i know the contract with battel was signed a while ago and the most important thing was to get a plan which as i tried to emphasize is not just you know we've tried to not just look at the root cause which is with everybody else. we're trying to focus on the remedy. i can get you information when the contract was signed, what the plan is and that should tell you what the calendar expectations are as well. >> thank you. so you have mentioned several times in your testimony today that we may never know the root cause and the root cause is a problem so problems associated with the beta inflators persisted for years and it feels as if we're not making any progress in determining. road cause. given that, how will we know how will we satisfy you have enough data to determine theed a ad quatcy of the proposed remedy if it we don't know the root cause?

>> often around nhtsa even though they wonder why i keep bringing this up while i was at the ntsb we investigated the 787 dreamliner boeing lithium ion battery fire. some people question whether the root cause was stofrd. it required boeing coming up with a solution without knowing the root cause, identifying the failure points engineering a solution to that, testing it and now they're flying again very quickly. so we have that possibility, including the fact there are all kinds of airbags including takata airbags out there that are not rupturing. between those two things there is an opportunity without root cause to still get a solution. >> so essentially taking your experience from ntsb and how that would be the proposal that you'll use going forward with takata? >> yes, and let me just add, because i haven't had a chance to say this you've just raised one of the core questions we've been asking since i've been there in january, how long do you wait. >> um-hum. >> i've been at the ntsb, we couldn't wait a year to come up

with an answer or not come up with an answer so that is part of why we have pushed to basically take the driver's seat to get a focus on the remedy and the supply and all the other factors that will make a difference to get that safe airbag in everybody's vehicle. >> thank you. and thank you for your work on this. you're right we can't wait and so encourage your persistence in fighting for this, thank you. >> the chair thanks the gentle lady. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois. >> thank you mr. chairman and sir, thank you for being here and answering our questions. most of them have been asked. i just have a couple of ones, so i probably won't take all of my five minutes but you talk about the coordinated remedy program. what's going to be involved and when will you have a plan for acting as the central coordinator for the coordinated remedy program? >> so thanks, because that gives me a chance to really focus on the end game here. i keep talking about nhtsa sitting in the driver's seat. up until this point it was

unclear how this was going to happen. now we have a plan to meet with the manufacturers and meeting with suppliers we'll have joint meetings and our intent once that plan is together to have a meeting so there's transparency to the entire plan and schedule. we hope that hearing to occur in the early fall. >> okay, all right and nhtsa with recall logistics recall expertise will lead this coordination or something you need to contract out? >> actually right now there's an internal team at nhtsa overseeing this so i have people from the defects/engineering group, a group that's dealing with the legal enforcement issues and communications, so those three groups have come together to basically provide oversight for the process. >> and do you believe that they have enough expertise to carry out this process, enough recall logistics expertise? >> at this point, yes, and i think during our development of a future plan if we find other resources are needed, i'll be the first one to let everybody

know to make sure that we get this done right. >> so if you don't have it, you'd be willing to look at outside whatever you need to get this done right. >> yes. >> you've answered pretty much all the questions i have with that i yield back the three minutes remaining. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. you yield your remaining time to me? >> yes i'll yield it to you. >> and i thank the gentleman for that. mr. rosekind you're probably aware last night at the rules committee we did the rule for the transportation appropriations bill, it will be on the floor either this week or next week. recognizing we were having this hearing today, i asked the subcommittee of the transportation subcommittee in appropriations if they would share with me the spending plan submitted to their subcommittee by nhtsa every agency and department is required to submit a spending plan to the appropriations committee or appropriations subcommittee as

they do their work and build the appropriations bills that we will then vote on. so i got to say what i was given is pretty sparse so i am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and if you would like to provide me with the spending plan that you provided to the appropriations subcommittee, i would be happy to review it and review it with you, if you would like, chairman upton said, made reference to the fact that we need to make sure the appropriations are in line, it's been talked about so again i'll make this available to you, if it is as written then that's fine. if you think there is a different spending plan that i should be looking at i'll be happy to do that and again, i'll be happy to follow up with you and i do want to stress you've always been very good about keeping me as the chairman of the subcommittee informed about what you're doing and for that, i'm very grateful. i'm filibustering just a little

bit because mr. engel is allegedly on his way here. let me just ask -- >> can i -- >> yes, oh, please. >> i want to thank you for that opportunity, because when we the president's budget has much detail about new -- >> mr. rosekind, i have to interrupt you. the president's budget never gets a single vote. republican senate or house senate, republican or democrat, no one would even offer the president's budget up for a vote this year. so that is -- you know the president, and this is not unique to the obama administration, president bush's budget when i was here in the majority earlier frequently those would not pass on the floor of the house or the senate. so sure, the president sends up a wish list that balances never and yes, it's got everything funded to a level that would be great if we lived in a world of unlimited resources, but you are the administrator. i've run a business. you understand that as the administrator sometimes you have

to prioritize spending and that's what we really are looking for you to do that's what we want to you do, just the same as the director of nih, just the same as dr. frieden at the cdc, we want to you prioritize and spend appropriately. i'll give you the benefit of the doubt. this looks pretty thin to me i welcome the chance to go through the spending plan with you and finally last year on a bipartisan basis, this committee requested that the government accountability office review nhtsa's internal structure procedures to assess the agency's ability to keep pace at the committee's hearing in december deputy administrator friedman committed to cooperating with the government accountability officer's review. will you reaffirm this commitment to cooperate with gao in this review? >> absolutely. we already are. >> i appreciate it that very much. do you have any -- okay, at this point, we're going to have to forego questions by mr. engel and i apologize we'll get his

questions to you in writing and any member of the committee may have further questions but seeing there are no further members wishing to ask questions for this panel i do want to thank administrator rosekind for being here today. this will conclude our first panel. we will take a brief recess to set up the second panel, thank you, sir.

>> you just heard from the administrator of the national highway traffic safety administration on the recall of the takata company airbags. next panel getting set up including the executive vice president of takata and the ce oh of global automakers the head of alliance of automobile manufacturers and director of the independent testing coalition, all set to testify next, also let you know while they're getting set up here over in the senate, debating amendments to the usa freedom act earlier they voted to move forward with that measure and if any amendments do pass the measure will have to go back to the house. if no amendments pass t goes on to the white house.

and here in the house subcommittee just waiting for this panel to get reset and also looks like the chair may have

left the room as well so as soon as all the lawmakers come back in who are running this hearing, going to be hearing from the executive vice president of takata. there is the chair now, and also the ceo of global number of other witnesses as well on this second panel.

thank everyone for their patience and for taking time to be here today. we'll move into the second panel for today's hearing. we're going to follow the same format as the first panel. each witness will be given five minutes to summarize their opening statement, followed by questions from the members. for our second panel we want to welcome the following witnesses. mr. kevin kennedy, executive vice president of north america

takata. mr. david kelly, project director, independent testing coalition. mr. mitch boenwahl president and ceo of the automobile alliance manufacturers. and mr. john bozella, chief executive officer of global panelmakers. >> distinguished members of the subcommittee i am honored to it be here on behalf of takata and our employees throughout the united states. for takata, safety is the core of who we are and what we do. we're proud that takata airbags have saved thousands of lives and prevented serious injuries. hundreds of thousands of accidents. it is unacceptable to us for even one of our products to fail to perform as intended. we deeply regret each instance

in which someone has been injured or killed. we are committed to doing everything in our power to address the safety concerns raised by airbag ruptures. our chairman has made that commitment personally to administrator rosekind. so let me tell you what we're doing. after months of testing and extensive analysis we have agreed with ntsa to take broad actions in conjunction with automakers to respond to your concerns and those of the public. we have recommended dramatically expanded recalls, including national recalls, that go well beyond what is suggested by the science and testing. most of the ruptures on the road and all of the fatalities in the u.s. have involved older takata driver airbag inflaters with bat wing shaped propellants that were originally subjected to previous recalls.

most of those have incurred in the regions of the country with high heat and absolute humidity. nevertheless, we are proposing expanded national recalls to replace all of these bat wing driver inflaters from the start of production through the end of production in any vehicle registered anywhere in the united states. the recommended recalls will proceed in stages. the final stage will include the replacement of all bat wing driver inflaters previously installed as remedy parts. takata will cease producing the bat wing driver inflaters. all together. there have been far fewer field ruptures involving passenger airbags. nevertheless, our agreement with ntsa also contemplates significantly expanded recalls for passenger airbag inflaters, including a nationwide recall for one type of inflater. the recalls to the other passenger inflaters will cover

specific vehicle models ever registered in the high absolute humidity states but with the potential for the recalls to expand to other states if ordered by ntsa. we will continue to test inflaters beyond the scope of the recalls to determine whether further action is appropriate. for both driver and passenger airbags, all analyses to date indicates that the potentials for rupturing is limited to an extremely small fraction of older inflaters. that is not meant to minimize the issue. one rupture is too many. it does explain however, why takata's finally state that a defect may arise in some of the deflators. not all of the inflaters covered by the proposed recalls are defective. based on 50,000 tests to date and research involving leading experts from around the world, our best current judgment is that the potential for rupture

is related to long-term exposure over many years to persistent conditions of high heat and high absolute humidity as well as other potential factors including possible manufacturing and vehicle specific issues. nonetheless, we have proposed a broader remedy program. ntsa will play a central role in overseeing this remedy program. takata will prepare a plan for ntsa outlining steps to help determine the safety and expected service life of the remedy parts. we will also work with ntsa and our customers to get the word out to consumers to help maximize recall completion rates. in addition to increasing our own testing, we are actively supporting the testing work of the automakers and ntsa. we also continue to support the work of the independent quality assurance panel led by former secretary of transportation sam skinner. and we are continually ramping up our production of replacement

kits. in december we were producing approximately 350,000 kits per month. we are now producing more than 700,000, and by september we expect our monthly production to reach 1 million units. half of the replacement kits we shipped last month contained inflaters made by other suppliers, and by the end of the year we expect that to reach 70%. we have confidence in the inflaters we are making today, the integrity of our engineering and manufacturing, and we believe that properly made and installed, these inflaters will work as designed to save lives. we will continue to do everything we can to ensure uncompromised safety and the success of the recall efforts and we will keep congress, ntsa and the public updated on our progress. thank you, mr. chairman. >> chair thanks the gentleman. mr. kelly, recognized for your statement. >> chairman, ranking member,

members of the subchitommittee, thank you for the invitation to appear for you to discuss the activities of the independent testing coalition. the itc is comprised of ten automakers that have takata airbags in their passenger vehicles and is committed to an independent and comprehensive investigation of the technical issues associated with takata airbag inflaters and look forward to the results of this process, as we focus on the safety, security and peace of mind of all motorists. our primary goal is to find the root cause of this problem. as we have started to look at this issue of energetic disasem pling bling, it is apparent there is no silver bullet or easy solution to be found. public needs to understand experts have been studying this problem for years. if this was anything but the complex project that it is a root cause would have been identified by now. unfortunately, that is not the case and a final determination

is not imminent. we have devised a detailed testing plan that, when completed, will examine every identified aspect of this problem. we will conduct tens of thousands of connection cal testhemical tests alone, supplemented by a sim already a number of non-destructive tests and many thousands advanced computer simulation runs. in addition there will be a significant amount of data generated from our tests that then must be analyzed. this issue is too important for any stone to be left unturned. i do want to stress that we intend to conduct our investigation in an independent manner. we will work with takata. we will work with ntsa. we will work with all the affected parties, but we will conduct this investigation in an independent manner. we very much appreciate any input and suggestion from all the parties, but we will do our own analysis of others' data and

testing procedures. when we finish our investigation we do intend to make our findings public. >> chair thanks the gentleman. chair recognizes the gentleman for five minutes. >> chairman, members of the subcommittee, thanks for this opportunity. on behalf of the 12 leading global eooems, i appreciate this opportunity to testify. i'd like to make four summary points. first, the hearing today timely and welcomed and we are fully committed to doing our part to successfully complete this recall while continuing to build on the very significant safety advances of recent years. the magnitude of the takata airbag recall is unprecedented and global. there are no easy answers or quick fixes. that's why we support administer other rosekind's decision to use ntsa authority to organize and prioritize effective manufacturers. remedy programs. we all want a clear,