Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) participated in an online chat with Time Magazine contributor Daniel Okrent this afternoon. In a special edition of the magazine, Mr. Okrent was critical of Congressman Dingell’s work concerning the auto industry.  Below are some of the exchanges between the two men.

2:18     [Comment From Congressman John Dingell]

How long has it been since you lived in Detroit and talked to the people of the City, and the workers and business leaders who live and work here every day?

2:19    Dan Okrent:

For Congressman Dingell: I was in Detroit early in September for several days, and talked to about 60 people, all told. I also spent much of two weeks on the phone with many others.

2:23     [Comment From Congressman John Dingell]

In your piece and your critique of me, you indicated you looked at my web site. How many pages did you read on the site? How extensively did you research the way the regulation of the auto industry should go forward?

2:24    Dan Okrent:

For Congressman Dingell: I read quite a lot of the website, but even moreso went back and studied your voting record and public advocacy positions over the past several decades.

2:30     [Comment From Congressman John Dingell]

Tell me what action of mine prevented the adoption safety regulations, mileage standards or trade restrictions that you claim “might have forced the American automobile industry to make cars that could stand up to foreign competition”?

2:31     Dan Okrent:

Your resistance to sharply increased CAFE standards around 1990-1991.

Congressman Dingell said after the chat: “I have always supported CAFE standards at the highest standards achievable economically and technologically.  The CAFE standards of this country reflect that.  I don’t think Mr. Okrent saw the transcript of my speech at the Detroit Economic Club on February 9, 2004, when I called on the auto industry to undertake ‘bold, serious and visionary’ steps on CAFE standards, and to take those steps immediately.  Or the editorial from The New York Times - Mr. Okrent’s former employer - that called me a ‘hero’ for my role in passing 2007’s Energy Independence and Security Act, which increased fuel economy standards by forty percent.  We can take this issue up again another time.  While Mr. Okrent and I see my record quite differently, I respect his passion for his former hometown and I hope he comes back to visit and meet with me.”

Congressman Dingell has written a letter to Time Magazine to be sent this week in which he invites Okrent and the three Time bloggers living in Detroit for the year to visit the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

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