FACTBOX: Options for helping U.S. automakers

(Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are considering several options to help General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC, which have collectively asked for $34 billion in federal aid.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, committee members discussed the following options:

* Congress does nothing and GM and/or Chrysler file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "In my view, not a good option," said Sen. Thomas Carper, a Delaware Democrat.

* Congress does nothing and the companies file so-called pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions. That approach "may be" worth considering, Carper said.

* Provide assistance to automakers from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), an idea endorsed by Democratic leaders but opposed by the Bush administration and many Republicans.

* Provide assistance to automakers from the Federal Reserve, which has authority to prevent systemic risk to the U.S. financial system. "I'm uneasy about that option but it certainly is an option," Carper said.

* Require U.S. banks that have received TARP money to lend some of it to the automakers.

* Pass a bipartisan bill that would redirect an existing $25 billion fund for advanced fuel technology to be used for bridge loans to the automakers. Sponsors Carl Levin of Michigan, a Democrat, and Christopher Bond of Missouri and George Voinovich of Ohio, Republicans, say the bill has enough votes to pass both the House and Senate.

* Have the federal government take automakers' debt from financial institutions as the debt is restructured and possibly swapped for equity.

* Create an auto czar to oversee any federal funding given to automakers. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he favored this approach because creating an oversight board would take too much time.

(Reporting by Julie Vorman and Kevin Krolicki; Editing by John Wallace)