Sen Dodd: automaker aid package unlikely for now

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said on Wednesday that it looks unlikely Congress will come to agreement this week on an assistance package for the struggling automotive industry.

"I'm anxious to see something happen," Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd told reporters after a committee hearing on a separate issue. "But frankly, the idea that there's going to be a bill, I think, is remote."

He added: "I don't see how in the next few days this is going to move forward. That does not mean there are not other opportunities, should there be a requirement to step up."

The Federal Reserve or the Treasury Department could conceivably step in under some circumstances to help automakers General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler.

"We're not without tools should the moment require some action to be taken," he said.

The Bush administration has opposed the idea of using a $700 billion financial rescue program to help the automakers.

On possibly retooling $25 billion in energy loans to meet the automakers' needs, Dodd said, "I think that gets hard. The speaker of the House has been rather clear on where the House is on that issue. While the Senate might have a different response to that, I don't think at this point there's any likelihood that we're going to resolve those differences.

"While I understand the arguments people are making, I just don't see how that could work out."

Dodd's committee hosted a hearing on Tuesday where the chiefs of the three auto manufacturers pleaded for government help and blamed the industry's problems largely on the severe financial crisis confronting the economy.

"The industry missed an opportunity yesterday, and they were given it several times, to be more candid about their own shortcomings over the years," Dodd said. "I think it would have helped their case dramatically had they been willing to" concede mistakes.

He added, "I'm very much attracted to the prepackaged bankruptcy idea." He said that on his committee there are both Democrats and Republicans attracted to that concept.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Brian Moss)