Jim Tarbox, who lost his Jeep dealership franchise in the restructuring of Chrysler, is traveling to Washington Tuesday, according to a news statement released by Vision Strategies, a public relations company based in Cranston:

Specifically, he will be discussing "House resolution 2743 that restores the economic rights of GM and Chrysler car dealers as they existed prior to each company's bankruptcies, preserves car dealers' rights to recourse under state law and requires GM and Chrysler to reinstate franchise agreements in effect prior to each company's bankruptcies at the request of an auto dealer," the statement said.

"Chrysler shut down Tarbox's North Kingstown dealership in June with less than a month's notice" despite "Tarbox Motor's rankings as the top performing Chrysler dealer in Rhode Island and inclusion in the top five percent of Jeep dealers in the nation," the statement said.

"My dealership has exceeded sales goals each year and performed above and beyond any expectations set by Chrysler. To have them come in and shut my dealership down with only a few week's notice, was shocking at the least. It also begs the question, if not for performance, what was the criteria for closure?" said Tarbox, according to the statement.

"As it stands, Chrysler is refusing to release their closure criteria. In fact, it seems closure was decided based on personality and relationships, not performance. This is not a fair or sound business practice," Tarbox continued.

"This company is playing with the livelihoods of dealers across the country and it is truly shameful that their closure policies be set at the whim of top executives, rather than on good, sound and most importantly, fair criteria. It is unfortunate that we must turn to Congress for help and I urge our representatives and senators to support this worthy bill," Tarbox concluded, according to Vision Strategies' statement.

"Tarbox, one of hundreds of dealers who are converging on Capitol Hill for a day of Congressional meetings on Tuesday, has been identified as a featured dealer by the National Auto Dealers Association," the statement said.

"(He) will share his story at key dealer and congressional meetings including those with the bill's top sponsors in leadership; Congressman John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; and Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee," the statement continued.

"The loss of the RI dealership means a loss of significant tax revenue, more than $2.2 million and double-digit job losses in a state with an already bulging 12.5 percent unemployment rate. Additionally, this closure may result in the bankruptcy of a successful small business, at the whim of a major company," the statement concluded.