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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 144 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1998 No. 128 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was long last, I think we are going to be Lott (for Grassley/Hatch) Amendment No. called to order by the President pro able to complete action on this legisla- 3559, in the nature of a substitute. tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. tion and get it into conference and give Mr. DURBIN addressed the Chair. us a good opportunity then to get this The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- PRAYER work completed by the session’s end. ator from Illinois is recognized. The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John It is expected that several amend- Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: ments will be offered and debated this Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank God our Father, we pause in the morning, with a stacked series of roll- the majority leader for announcing the midst of the changes and challenges of call votes occurring at approximately schedule this morning. Those who have life to receive a fresh experience of 11:45 a.m. It looks like there will be followed the last few days of Senate de- Your goodness. You are consistent; You two votes, probably, in that sequence, bate know we are considering a reform constantly fulfill Your plans and pur- at 11:45. Those votes will hopefully in- of the bankruptcy code. We will be poses; and You are totally reliable. clude passage of bankruptcy legisla- joined shortly by the Senator from There is no shadow of turning with tion. Following disposition of that bill, Connecticut, Senator DODD, who will You; as You have been, You will be for- the Senate may consider any other leg- offer an amendment. ever. All of Your attributes are islative or executive items cleared for For those who have not paid atten- summed up in Your goodness. It is the action. tion to this debate, I hope that they password for Your presence, the At this time, I believe we will prob- have followed at least the outline of it metonym for Your majesty, and the ably go to the Internet taxation bill. and understand that what we are about synonym for Your strength. Your good- Although we have had discussions with is to try to change the bankruptcy ness is generosity that You define. It is the Democratic leadership, no further code in a way that will reduce abusive Your abundant, unqualified love poured agreements have been reached on other filings—in other words, people who out in graciousness and compassion. bills. I wanted to put the managers of may be going into bankruptcy court to You are good when circumstances seem that legislation, Internet taxation, on file for bankruptcy in a situation bad. When we ask for Your help, Your notice that we may very well go to where they can, in fact, pay back ei- goodness can bring what is best out of that, which would be shortly in the ther their debts or a sizable portion of the most complicated problems. afternoon. those debts. We have tried to address Thank You for Your goodness given From 10 until 11 o’clock, there will be this at several different levels. We have so lavishly to our Nation throughout a ceremony in the Rotunda where the had a spirited debate about how to do our history. Today, we turn again to Hon. Nelson Mandela will receive the it. You for Your guidance about what is Congressional Gold Medal. A number of Senators will be involved in that cere- We understand the complexity of good for our country. Keep us grounded this. Historically, there has been a na- in Your sovereignty, rooted in Your mony. We will continue to work on this bill, but we will defer votes until after tional commission which has taken a Commandments, and nurtured by the look at this rather complicated area of absolutes of Your truth and righteous- that ceremony is over. I yield the floor. the law. I find myself in an unusual po- ness. May Your goodness always be the sition here, having worked with my source of our Nation’s greatness. In the f staff and studied this issue for a year, Name of our Lord and Savior. Amen. CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY REFORM because I come to this with an inter- f ACT OF 1998 esting experience when it comes to RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. BEN- bankruptcy law. Thirty years ago, I LEADER NETT). Under the previous order, the took a course in bankruptcy in law school. Twenty years ago, I was ap- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will now resume consideration pointed trustee of a bankruptcy in my able majority leader, Senator LOTT of of S. 1301, which the clerk will report. hometown of Springfield, IL, in one Mississippi, is recognized. The assistant legislative clerk read case. Now I bring that wealth of experi- f as follows: A bill (S. 1301) to amend title 11, United ence to this debate in an attempt to SCHEDULE States Code, to provide for consumer bank- try to find our way through a very Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, this morn- ruptcy protection, and for other purposes. complicated area of the law. It was in- ing, the Senate will immediately re- The Senate resumed consideration of teresting. sume consideration of S. 1301, the Con- the bill. Yesterday, when I spoke to a col- sumer Bankruptcy Protection Act. At Pending: league of mine about bankruptcy, she ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S10739 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 23:29 Dec 12, 2013 Jkt 081600 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 J:\ODA425\1997-2008-FILES-4-SS-PROJECT\1998-SENATE-REC-FILES\RECFILES-NEW\S mmaher on DSKCGSP4G1 with SOCIALSECURITY S10740 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 23, 1998 had said that she was surprised to learn come into court have to be, in fact, de- 1986) at least 180 days before the date of how few people file bankruptcy with in- serving of bankruptcy procedure, and entry of the order for relief.’’. comes over $50,000 a year. I told her that those who extend credit in this Mr. DODD. Mr. President, this that the average income of a person fil- country have to be more open and hon- amendment is a third amendment to ing for bankruptcy in the United est in the way that they deal with con- two others that have been offered and States of America is less than $18,000. sumers. I think that is the right bal- have actually been included in the So folks who are going into bankruptcy ance. It still puts the burden on each of managers’ amendment. court, by and large, are people of very us to make the right decisions for our- I thank, again, Senator HATCH, Sen- limited means. The average debt of the selves and our families. It gives us the ator DURBIN, Senator GRASSLEY, and person going into bankruptcy court is information about the credit card com- others for their consideration. about $28,000. panies to make that decision more This amendment, the third, is de- So if we are out to stop the high roll- knowledgeably and with an under- signed to protect children who through ers and the abusers of the system, I standing of what we are getting into. no fault of their own are involved in hope that we take care in this bill, as At this time, I see my colleague from bankruptcy. It provides legal and le- well as in conference, to protect the the State of Connecticut is here to gitimate college savings accounts es- vast majority of people petitioning the offer his amendment under the unani- tablished for the benefit of children bankruptcy court for relief of their mous consent agreement. which will be beyond the reach of debts, who are, in fact, in lower-income Mr. DODD addressed the Chair. creditors. categories, with a debt that is beyond The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under This amendment parallels Senator their comprehension or at least their the previous order, the Senator from HATCH’s provisions to protect retire- control. Connecticut is recognized to offer an ment savings accounts, and particu- As we go about these changes, I am amendment regarding student loans on larly contains measures to prevent glad to see that we have included which there will be 15 minutes: 10 min- fraudulent transfers of assets intended amendments that not only try to tight- utes under the control of the Senator solely to avoid the rightful reach of en up the procedures in the bankruptcy from Connecticut, and 5 minutes under creditors. So we have written into this court, but also say to the people in the the control of the Senator from Iowa. the exact same kind of parallel provi- credit industry that they have an equal The Senator from Connecticut. sions that the seniors’ retirement ac- obligation here. We want you to con- Mr. DODD. Mr. President, first of all, counts include. tinue to extend credit across America we want to wrap this bill up, I gather, The amendment complements other so that American families and busi- fairly quickly. I want to extend my provisions that are included in the nesses can use credit cards and second congratulations to Senator GRASSLEY managers’ amendment. Those provi- mortgages and other things to finance of Iowa, Senator HATCH, my colleague sions ensure that the lawful funds for their lives and businesses; but we want from Utah, and Senator DURBIN, the the benefit of children—such as child you to be certain that you follow some manager for this side of the aisle on support, disability payments, and fos- rules, too.

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