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Family Members Listen to GM Testimony

Mary Theresa Ruddy listens to testimony from General Motors CEO Mary Barra during the Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee in Washington.
Image: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee hearing on the GM recall
Mary Theresa Ruddy of Scranton, Penn. holds a picture of her twenty-one-year-old daughter Kelly who died in a 2005 Chevy Cobalt in 2010.MICHAEL REYNOLDS / EPA

Mary Theresa Ruddy from Scranton, Penn. holds a picture of her twenty-one-year-old daughter Kelly who died in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt in 2010, as she listens to testimony from General Motors CEO Mary Barra during the Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee in Washington.

House and Senate committees are investigating why it took GM more than a decade to recall 2.6 million cars, including Cobalts and Saturn Ions, that could have faulty ignition switches and may have contributed to 13 deaths. In some cases, added weight on the ignition key might have caused the engines to cut out.