(Bloomberg) — General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra pushed yesterday to separate herself from an old GM that weighed the costs of improved safety, insisting she's the face of a new GM that puts customers first.

In more than two hours of testimony that was long on apologies and short on detailed answers, Barra assured members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee she'd find out why the automaker took more than a decade to recall 2.6 million cars for faulty ignition switches linked to 13 deaths.

When pressed to give more detailed answers, Barra said she had to wait for the results of an internal investigation led by Jenner & Block LLC Chairman Anton Valukas. Barra also said GM hired Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who managed funds for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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