Toyota Hearing: Top Grandstanding Moments

WASHINGTON (Feb. 23) -- A top American executive for Toyota faced angry lawmakers Tuesday in the first of three planned congressional hearings into the company's extensive recalls in the United States and around the world. Like any highly anticipated Capitol Hill hearing, the testimony by Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. president James Lentz was ripe for political grandstanding, as lawmakers tried to channel public frustration with the company.

Here are the top five moment's from Lentz's appearance:

1) Rep. Bobby Rush: Apologize ... Again

Toyota executives have repeatedly apologized for the flaws in their vehicles, and Lentz offered another apology in his testimony this afternoon. But Rush, a nine-term Illinois Democrat, either hadn't heard or wasn't satisfied. "Don't you feel as though you owe your customers, some of whom have gone through some serious injuries, a lot of hurt and pain -- don't you feel as though you owe them a sincere apology for your company, your vehicles, your products?" Rush asked. "Can't you just apologize to them?"

"Yes sir, we have," Lentz replied, adding: "We are sincerely sorry for that concern and anxiety we have put people through."

Rush's demand may have been superfluous, but he succeeded in eliciting the afternoon's most emotional response from Lentz, who recalled his own family's loss in a traffic accident. "I can tell you I lost a brother in an accident, a week after his 30th birthday," Lentz said, his eyes welling up with tears and his voice breaking. "That was 20-some years ago, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of that, so I know what these families go through."

2) Rep. Joe Barton: 'Get That Car'

A sharp-tongued Texas Republican, Barton pushed Lentz to explain Toyota's strategy in responding to reported problems with its vehicles. In particular, he wanted a response to testimony the committee heard earlier in the day from Rhonda Smith, who provided a harrowing account of how her Lexus sped to 100 miles an hour on a highway in 2006. Barton urged Lentz to order a specific examination of Smith's car. "Why won't you get that car and check it out?" he asked. Lentz said he would have the car examined, and he said he was "embarrassed" to hear Smith's story earlier in the hearing.

3) Rep. Edward Markey: 'You Don't Know'

Markey, D-Mass., took Lentz to task over what he suggested was a misleading public response, in which the company insisted it knew what was wrong with its cars and had a fix. "You said you solved the problem. The truth is you don't know if you've solved the problem. Isn't that correct?" Markey asked in a heated exchange that channeled the public frustration with Toyota. Lentz did not respond directly, but he did not dispute Markey's characterization.

4) Rep. Charles Gonzalez: 'Are You Going to Stop Driving Toyotas?'

Gonzalez, D-Texas, emerged as something of a rare defender of Toyota. Though he said the scrutiny of the company was justified, he warned about a quick rush to judgment. "Everyone will remember the accusation. No one will remember the exoneration," he said. And rather than drill down into specifics, as other lawmakers did, Gonzalez stuck to bottom-line questions. "I want to know what you can tell Toyota owners today regarding the safety of their vehicles," he told Lentz. "I would not have my loved ones driving products, recalled or not, if I didn't feel they were safe," the Toyota executive replied, repeating that the company had added new safety and transparency measures as it investigates the flaws in its cars. Offering Lentz another opportunity to reassure consumers, Gonzalez pressed on. "You drive Toyotas. Your family drives Toyotas. Everybody you care about drives Toyotas. Are you going to stop driving Toyotas?" the congressman asked. "No sir," Lentz answered.

5) Rep. Jerry McNerney: What About My District?

Recalls? What recalls? McNerney, D-Calif., chose to use the hearing to criticize Lentz about an unrelated matter: Toyota's decision to close a manufacturing plant in his district. The congressman said the money-saving move could cost California 35,000 jobs, and he suggested that since Toyota was getting pummeled in the press over its recalls, reversing course on the West Coast plant would be good for PR. "Wouldn't that be beneficial for Toyota?" McNerney asked. Lentz said the numbers didn't add up, and he blamed General Motors, which owned 50 percent of the plant, for forcing its hand by backing out first.

McNerney wasn't buying it. "I don't believe Toyota has done nearly enough to prevent this loss of jobs," he said. And in a rather curious accusation, he said Toyota was putting the local plant out of business "because of antipathy toward West Coast workers, not out of necessity."