LANSING, Mich. -- The Big Three’s latest effort to secure a $25 billion bailout loan is being closely watched by the mayors of communities that have auto plants.

Bay City Mayor Charles Brunner is one of them; he's headed to Lansing Tuesday for a mayor’s conference.

Brunner said the last thing he wants to see is General Motor’s Bay City power train plant closing and affecting his community.

Brunner has been a vocal supporter of using taxpayer dollars to help the ailing auto industry.

He was one of 16 mayors from across the country who went before federal lawmakers last month, lobbying for the loan.

Now Brunner has been invited to be a member of the Automotive Mayors Coalition.

Brunner said he thinks it’s important to be the group when it once again lobbies congress on Dec. 8 and 9.

He said if the Bay City GM plant closes, its 400 jobs lost would be devastating to his community.

Brunner hopes that money from the mayor’s budget, coupled with funds from the Chamber of Commerce, will cover his costs in going back to Washington, D.C., next Monday.

The mayor of Lansing said the government must step in and save the troubled auto industry because it is indispensable to America's national security.

As leaders of the Big Three automakers made a new attempt Tuesday to persuade Washington to approve financial aid, Mayor Virg Bernero argued that if the companies are allowed to "fall by the wayside," the country would have to rely on other nations like China, Japan and South Korea to make guns and tanks someday in a new war scenario.

Bernero said, "We were the arsenal of democracy in World War II." He said industry executives are "certainly very hopeful" that they'll get a better reception this time around in Congress.

He also said the companies do not oppose "some conditions and some strings" to any such loan package.