I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3088 
To require an automobile manufacturer that the Federal Government has 
an ownership interest in or that has an outstanding loan from the 
Federal Government to purchase liability insurance from an insurance 
company. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2009 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself and Mr. BRALEY of Iowa) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To require an automobile manufacturer that the Federal 
Government has an ownership interest in or that has 
an outstanding loan from the Federal Government to 
purchase liability insurance from an insurance company. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jeremy Warriner Con-
sumer Protection Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Product liability is an important legal mech-
anism to ensure that those who make products avail-
able to the public are held responsible for the inju-
ries those products cause. 
(2) American consumers have a legal right to 
obtain compensation for injuries caused by defec-
tively designed or built cars. 
(3) Under its purchase agreement, newly re-
structured Chrysler will not have product liability for 
millions of existing Chrysler vehicles currently on the 
road, potentially leaving hundreds of individuals and 
families uncompensated for injuries caused by vehi-
cle defects. 
(4) Under ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, 
General Motors is likely to sell its assets under simi-
lar terms to those of Chrysler, in this case leaving 
those who have been or might be injured by any of 
the tens of millions of existing General Motors vehi-
cles with no effective legal recourse for product li-
ability. 
(5) There are more than 10 million Chrysler 
and 30 million General Motors vehicles currently on 
the road that are subject to safety recalls and, on 
average, there will be 500 to 1,000 serious auto in-
juries or fatalities in these vehicles every year. 
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(6) Taking away the legal right to seek com-
pensation for injuries will result in no accountability 
for companies that put cars with defects on the mar-
ket. 
(7) Without compensation, many innocent vic-
tims will be left struggling to pay massive medical 
bills while potentially being unable to work. These 
health care and disability costs will be borne by 
State and Federal governments, at a time when they 
can least afford it. 
SEC. 3. INSURANCE REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any automobile manufacturer 
that the Federal Government has an ownership interest 
in or that has an outstanding loan from the Federal Gov-
ernment shall purchase liability insurance from an insur-
ance company. 
(b) INSURANCE SPECIFICATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The liability insurance de-
scribed under subsection (a) shall provide products 
liability coverage in sums that are actuarially rea-
sonable for— 
(A) all products that the manufacturer has 
marketed or sold in the United States; 
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(B) all products that any predecessor cor-
poration of the manufacturer has marketed or 
sold in the United States; and 
(C) all future products that the manufac-
turer markets or sells in the United States. 
(2) SUCCESSOR ENTITY COVERAGE.—The liabil-
ity insurance described under subsection (a) shall 
provide for the coverage of any successor entity of 
the manufacturer as an additional insured. 
(3) SELF-RETENTION LIMITS.—The liability in-
surance described under subsection (a) may have 
self-retention limits, but such limits may not be 
greater than $200,000 per claim. 
(c) NO DEFENSE BASED ON BANKRUPTCY.—If an 
automobile manufacturer described in subsection (a), or 
any successor entity, is a named insured under a liability 
insurance plan, any defense predicated upon Bankruptcy 
to a liability claim involving such plan shall be null and 
void. 
(d) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall 
initiate a rulemaking proceeding to implement the insur-
ance requirement under this section. 
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(e) CIVIL PENALTY.—The Administrator of the Na-
tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration may impose 
a civil penalty against any automobile manufacturer for 
each violation of subsection (a) in an amount not to exceed 
5 times the amount the Administrator determines it would 
have cost such manufacturer to purchase liability insur-
ance described under subsection (a). 
Æ 
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