The senior Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the chief federal auto safety regulator Wednesday questioning whether his agency is withholding information favorable to Toyota as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to dramatically increase oversight and penalties on automakers.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas sent the letter to David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seeking more information following last week’s Wall Street Journal report that NHTSA had found drivers had their foot on the wrong pedal in dozens of cases of alleged unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

“The committee recently passed, and the House of Representatives may soon consider, a sweeping $800 million reauthorization of NHTSA that includes provisions aimed at unintended acceleration,” Barton said in the letter. “It is important for us to know whether NHTSA has EDR (event data recorder) data showing that some incidents of reported sudden unintended acceleration were the result of pedal misapplication.”

Also Wednesday, a group of consumer advocates and individuals who say they are victims of unintended acceleration gathered on Capitol Hill with congressional backers of the bill to urge its passage, including Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

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