HR0679 LRB093 21230 HSS 47467 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, According to Federal Reserve data, in 2001
3 Americans owed more than $500 billion in outstanding auto loans
4 and paid close to $45 billion in interest on these auto loans;
5 and
 
6     WHEREAS, According to the Consumer Federation of America,
7 in their 2003 Report, "The Hidden Mark-up of Auto Loans,"
8 African-Americans and Hispanics pay higher finance interest
9 rates than other borrowers; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Discrepancies in finance rates between
11 African-Americans and Hispanics and other consumers cannot be
12 explained by difference of creditworthiness; and
 
13     WHEREAS, In 2001, DaimlerChrysler ranked third among the
14 top ten companies in auto finance; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Data shows that the average annual rate of
16 interest on vehicle loans for African-American and Hispanic
17 households is higher than that of other households; and
 
18     WHEREAS, 35 percent of African-American households held
19 auto loans averaging a little more than $15,000 at an average
20 interest rate of a little more than 10 percent; thus paying
21 approximately $6 billion in interest annually; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Elected officials and civic leaders in Chicago and
23 Cook County have called for a nationwide boycott against
24 DaimlerChrysler as a result of racial discrimination that
25 included systematic denial of financing to African-Americans
26 at two local dealerships in Chicago neighborhoods and making
27 racially insensitive remarks by corporate executives and
28 employees; therefore, be it
 

 

 

HR0679 - 2 - LRB093 21230 HSS 47467 r

1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
3 call upon DaimlerChrysler Corporation and Chrysler Financial
4 Corporation to halt all patterns and practices of racial
5 discrimination, including discriminatory lending practices;
6 and to take corrective action including employment termination
7 of executives who have made racially insensitive remarks and
8 increase the number of minority-owned dealerships and the
9 number of minorities in executive positions; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to
11 DaimlerChrysler Corporation and Chrysler Financial
12 Corporation.