[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2641-H2642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SUPPORT BANKRUPTCY REFORM ACT AND ITS EMPHASIS ON PERSONAL 
                             RESPONSIBILITY

  (Mr. DOOLEY of California asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, today we are going to be 
considering bankruptcy reform legislation, and I rise in strong support 
of it. In 1998 we had studies that showed that at least $3 billion was 
written off in bankruptcy by wealthy debtors who could have afforded to 
pay it back.
  More and more wealthy Americans are using the bankruptcy system to 
buy a throwaway lifestyle that they cannot afford, then expecting hard-
working Americans who pay their bills each month to pick up the tab. 
That is not right, and Congress needs to do something about it.

[[Page H2642]]

  I also want to address some information that I think is not true by 
some of the opponents of this legislation, dealing with child support 
payments. Under the current system, child support and alimony payments 
rank seventh on the list of priority payments in a bankruptcy 
proceeding, behind such things as attorney fees; seventh.
  This legislation moves those critical family obligations up to the 
top of the list. Women and children come first under H.R. 833, the 
bankruptcy protection reform bill that we are going to be considering 
today. It is time to require personal responsibility. Support H.R. 833.

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