The U.S. House acted Wednesday night to pass a $14 billion bailout of the automobile industry, and Northwest Missouri Congressman Sam Graves remained an opponent of the government-backed handouts to struggling companies.

House members approved the measure by a 237 to 170 vote. Mr. Graves joined 149 other Republicans in voting against the measure.

Democrat Nancy Boyda, who represents Northeast Kansas, voted yes along with 204 other members of her party.

Mr. Graves released this statement:

To date, Congress has already spent over a trillion dollars to bail out failed companies. As was the case with the Wall Street bailout, I do not believe that putting more taxpayer money at risk will solve the problem. That is why I voted against bailing out the auto industry.

One thing is clear; the management of these companies needs to change. Without real changes, a one-time infusion of taxpayer money will not solve the auto industry's problems. Today’s bailout did nothing to return the Big Three to viability and left taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars.

Instead of reforming the auto industry, this bill grew the size of government with the creation of a so-called Car Czar. Replacing the executives at the Big Three with politicians and bureaucrats will not solve the problem. We need to make the auto industry viable again, not nationalize the industry.

Unfortunately, this bailout will only increase our debt and guarantee that the auto industry will be back to ask for another bailout.

Senate consideration of the auto rescue plan comes next. Missouri Sen. Christopher Bond, a Republican, has been a supporter of a bailout, but told The New York Times: “While I am fighting to save Missouri auto jobs, Congress is just putting off the inevitable unless we force the companies to reform fundamentally, which this latest plan fails to do and is why I am offering changes to make it work.”