Yesterday, Rep. Eshoo fought to save the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, a highly successful bipartisan program which was on the chopping block to pay for disaster relief funding. The program provides loans to automakers and auto parts manufacturers to help them retool manufacturing facilities in the United States to produce highly fuel efficient, advanced technology vehicles or components. This program has directly benefited manufacturers in the Bay Area and California.

Reps. Eshoo and Gary Peters led their colleagues by sending a letter, signed by 108 Members, to Speaker John Boehner urging him not to cut the successful job-creating program. The Mercury News wrote about her efforts:

In the House, Democrats rallied against the measure because of the accompanying $1.5 billion in cuts to an Energy Department program that subsidizes low-interest loans to help car companies and parts manufacturers retool factories to build vehicles that will meet new, tougher fuel economy standards.

Democrats say cutting the loan program could cost up to 10,000 jobs because there wouldn't be enough money for all pending applications.

They estimated that $3.5 billion of loan subsidies has supported loans totaling $9.2 billion that created or saved 41,000 jobs in California, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio. Tesla, Ford and Nissan have already received loans; Chrysler is awaiting final approval of a loan.

Earlier this week, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, demanding that he preserve funding for the program.

"Members of Congress have sent a powerful message -- don't sacrifice American ingenuity, American jobs and American fuel-efficient cars," Eshoo said. "This is a bipartisan policy now being turned on its head to pay for disaster relief. Disasters need not be compounded. This wrong-headed approach will rob our country of a policy and a program that works."

To read the full article, please click here. To read about the ATVM program, and see Rep. Eshoo's letter, please click here.