Tauzin "miffed" at Nasser´s refusal to attend hearing

WASHINGTON (Aug. 30)—Ford Motor Co. CEO Jacques Nasser will not testify at Senate and House Commerce Committee hearings Sept. 6 on the recall of 6.5 million Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires which were mostly original equipment on Ford vehicles. Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. CEO Masatoshi Ono will testify, however. Also, Ford vice presidents Helen Petrauskas and Tom Baughman and Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater are on the House panel´s preliminary witness list. Ford spokesmen said Nasser was too busy directing the recall program to attend the hearings. A spokesman for the office of Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., said Tauzin was "miffed" at Nasser´s refusal to appear at the House hearing. "We´re hoping he reconsiders," the spokesman said, "but if not, we´re going to move on, regardless of who testifies and who doesn´t testify. We´re going to hold the hearings, and we´re going to get to the bottom of this sorry mess." There is no witness list yet for the Senate Commerce hearing, a committee staffer said.