Rep. Issa says Toyoda must appear before Congress

DETROIT (Reuters) - A California lawmaker pressed his case on Thursday to get Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) (TM.N) President Akio Toyoda to testify before a congressional committee probing the automaker's safety recalls, saying he would support a subpoena to force his appearance.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government committee, invited Toyoda to testify and suggested another hearing could be held if the automaker's top executive could not make the February 24 session as scheduled.

In a February 11 letter to Oversight Chairman Democrat Edolphus Towns, Issa said he supports issuing a subpoena if necessary to compel testimony from Toyoda.

"Whether it is for a microprocessor engineer or the top executive, we have a duty to determine what Toyota knew, when they knew it and if they met their full obligation of disclosure to U.S. regulators and the American people," the California lawmaker said.

Toyota officials said Toyoda's plans for visiting the United States are indefinite.

"Of course, when he does visit America, he would look forward to the opportunity to meet with members of Congress," the company said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Towns said he would speak with Issa about the matter, but there have been no changes in the witness lineup.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the top U.S. auto safety regulator, David Strickland, consumer advocate Joan Claybrook and safety researcher Sean Kane are also expected to testify.

Toyota said it was cooperating with requests of the Oversight panel as well as the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on investigations. That panel has scheduled a hearing for February 25.

Issa also suggested former Bush administration transportation officials appear at any follow-up hearing to answer questions about government safety decisions on Toyota that were made during their time in office.

(Reporting by David Bailey and John Crawley; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Phil Berlowitz)