today we, again, welcome david strickland, the administrator of the national highway safety administration before our subcommittee. at two recent hearings, we heard testimony from department of transportation officials. first on regulations proposed by the department related to standards for vehicle fuel efficiency. and then on the number of hours truck drivers can work between mandatory rest periods. at those hearings, the majority criticized the department of transportation for considering stricter regulations claiming they were harmful to business and the economy. today by contrast, the question is whether the department of transportation was strict enough in the regulatory oversight of one product, the chevy volt electric vehicle by general motors. the title to have day's hearing is what did ntsa know about the volt vehicle fire and when did they know it? a very detailed, 135-page final report by the national highway traffic safety administration, ntsa, on its investigation into the volt battery fire incident which was made public on friday provides detailed answers to the question thi

house members first heard from the head of the administration, david strickland for an hour and a half. >> the committee will come to order. we will start with their opening statements and then get right to our first panel. we appreciate you being here today. to delay public notification of serious safety risks of the chevy volt raises significant concerns regarding the relationship between the obama administration and general motors. the abundantintervened and forced a company to participate in a politically orchestrated process. the result was the u.s. government still owns 26% of the company. in addition to significant ownership stake in the company president obama has used this unusual blurring of public and private sector boundaries the result of this partnership as a top accomplishment of his administration. creating a dynamic where the present is reliant on general motors. most recently this was relating the state of the union address. providing 7500-dollar tax credits for the purchase of the sub tree and other electric eagles. as well as billions of dollars for domestic product