Congress should amend auto loan program -Gutierrez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration could quickly disburse $25 billion (16 billion pounds) in loans to U.S. automakers if Congress amends the 2007 energy act that authorized the loan program, a top Bush administration official said on Thursday.

"The solution is right there. It just needs an amendment and the money can be out pretty quickly," U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told Reuters in an interview.

The Bush administration would rather use the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to aid the auto industry, than dip into the $700 billion financial rescue package, he said.

"We do not believe opening up TARP for one industry is a good idea. Where do you draw the line?" Gutierrez said, noting that a number of other industries have been knocking on Treasury's door asking for help.

The Department of Energy has finalized regulations for implementing the $25 billion in loans available under the 2007 energy act, but there is one problem, Gutierrez said.

If automakers give the U.S. government an "application, we can give them the money. The problem is they cannot use the money until the project is ready. So if they show us a project that's going to start in 2010, we can get them the money, they just can't use it and they can only use it for that project."

If Congress were to amend the law, "we can get them the money very quickly, as long as (automakers) commit down the road to investing in these high-technology projects ... (and) prove they are viable firms. If they're not viable, they have to have a plan for viability, which we believe makes a lot of sense for the auto industry," Gutierrez added.

"I think the American people would want us to put their money into a company that has viability," he said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer, editing by Matthew Lewis)