Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. suggested Thursday that (Congress) wait until after Barack Obama is sworn in as president in January to provide further help to the carmakers. "Right now, I don't think there are the votes," he said. But a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. said Reid would press ahead with the still-unwritten measure next week, when the heads of the Big Three U.S. automakers are (scheduled) to testify before Congress.

Industry supporters say adding tough conditions to aid could (hamstring) automakers further and put as many as 3 million jobs in (jeopardy).

"The matter at hand is not the (fuel efficiency) of an automobile. It's that the consumer just doesn't want to buy any (automobile) right now," said Wade Newton of the Alliance of Automobile (Manufacturers), which represents the Big Three, Toyota and some German carmakers.

Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with (consulting) firm IHS Global Insight, said adding conditions to an automaker (bailout) is "like saying that you're only allowed to use organic medicine. You need to use the medicine that's going to make you healthy."