[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 28 (Thursday, March 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2416-S2417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    BANKRUPTCY ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2005

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. 26, which the clerk will report.
  The legislation clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 26) to amend title II of the United States Code, 
     and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Kennedy (for Leahy/Sarbanes) amendment No. 83, to modify 
     the definition of disinterested person in the Bankruptcy 
     Code.
       Dodd (for Kennedy) amendment No. 69, to amend the 
     definition of current monthly income.
       Dodd (for Kennedy) amendment No. 70, to exempt debtors 
     whose financial problems were caused by failure to receive 
     alimony or child support, or both, from means testing.
       Akaka amendment No. 105, to limit claims in bankruptcy by 
     certain unsecured creditors.
       Feingold amendment No. 90, to amend the provision relating 
     to fair notice given to creditors.
       Feingold amendment No. 92, to amend the credit counseling 
     provision.
       Feingold amendment No. 93, to modify the disclosure 
     requirements for debt relief agencies providing bankruptcy 
     assistance.
       Feingold amendment No. 95, to amend the provisions relating 
     to the discharge of taxes under chapter 13.
       Feingold amendment No. 96, to amend the provisions relating 
     to chapter 13 plans to have a 5-year duration in certain 
     cases and to amend the definition of disposable income for 
     purposes of chapter 13.
       Talent amendment No. 121, to deter corporate fraud and 
     prevent the abuse of State self-settled trust law.
       Schumer amendment No. 129 (to Amendment No. 121), to limit 
     the exemption for asset protection trusts.
       Durbin amendment No. 112, to protect disabled veterans from 
     means testing in bankruptcy under certain circumstances.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes of debate equally 
divided on amendment No. 70.
  The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in 
order to ask for the yeas and nays at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KENNEDY. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to talk about the most vulnerable 
people who go into bankruptcy; they are single women with children. 
There is $95 million a year in unpaid alimony and child support. When 
these women marry--or divorced women end up in bankruptcy, they end up 
in the harsh provisions of this legislation. That is wrong. These are 
people who are trying. They are working hard. They are playing by the 
rules, and they wouldn't be in bankruptcy if their husbands had paid. 
Why we ought to treat them harshly as this bill does is wrong.
  This amendment which I have introduced with the Senator from 
Connecticut, Senator Dodd, makes sure that we are going to treat them 
fairly under this provision.
  I hope the Senate will accept it.
  I yield 30 seconds to the Senator.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Massachusetts. He 
makes a point. Next year, more than 1 million single women will file 
for bankruptcy in the United States. Most of them are women with 
children, significant numbers of children. This is far too harsh for 
this constituency.
  We urge adoption of the Kennedy amendment. It is only right and only 
fair and ought to be done to provide relief to these people under the 
bankruptcy system.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I understand the vote is about to start. I 
yield back all of our time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays have been ordered.
  The question is on agreeing to Kennedy amendment No. 70.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Clinton) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced --- yeas 41, nays 58, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 36 Leg.]

                                YEAS--41

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Chafee
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--58

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Carper
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Clinton
       
  The amendment (No. 70) was rejected.


                            Amendment No. 69

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There will now be 2 minutes of debate on 
Kennedy amendment No. 69.
  The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the next 2 
votes be 10 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, workers in this country have hit a 
perfect storm with the decline in manufacturing, the outsourcing of 
jobs, and the increasing of part-time work. This has fallen 
disproportionately on African Americans and Latinos. The unemployment 
rate for Latinos has increased by 40 percent in recent years. It has 
increased by 31 percent with African Americans. If you are a Latino 
homeowner, you are 250 percent more likely

[[Page S2417]]

than White homeowners to go into bankruptcy. African-American 
homeowners are 690 percent more likely to go into bankruptcy.
  All this amendment says is that those individuals can still go into 
bankruptcy, but they will not be caught up in the harsher provisions of 
this bankruptcy act. It would be enormously unfair, unjust, and 
discriminatory. That is what this amendment does.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. McCONNELL. I yield back the time on this side.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to Kennedy amendment No. 69.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Clinton) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 41, nays 58, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 37 Leg.]

                                YEAS--41

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--58

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Clinton
       
  The amendment (No. 69) was rejected.


                           Amendment No. 105

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham). There will now be 2 minutes of 
debate equally divided on the Akaka amendment No. 105.
  The Senator from Hawaii.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, the bankruptcy bill does not allow 
consumers to declare personal bankruptcy, in either chapter 7 or 
chapter 13, unless they receive a briefing from an approved nonprofit 
credit counseling agency within 6 months of filing for bankruptcy.
  About one-third of all credit counseling consumers enter into a debt 
management plan. In exchange, creditors can agree to offer concessions 
to consumers to pay off as many of their debts as possible. However, 
most credit card companies have become increasingly unwilling to 
significantly reduce interest rates for consumers in credit counseling.
  My amendment would prevent unsecured creditors, primarily credit card 
issuers, from attempting to collect accruing interest and additional 
fees from consumers in credit counseling.
  As a show of support for the effectiveness of sound consumer credit 
counseling, especially as an alternative to bankruptcy, credit card 
issuers should waive the amount owned in interest and fees for 
consumers who enter a consolidated payment plan. Successful completion 
of a debt management plan benefits both creditors and consumers. For 
many consumers, paying off debt is not easy, and my amendment seeks to 
help these struggling individuals.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this amendment to help consumers 
enrolled in debt management plans to successfully repay their 
creditors, free themselves from debt, and avoid bankruptcy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, the amendment of the Senator from Hawaii 
is dressed up as a credit counseling amendment, but it would cause 
havoc in our modern consumer credit system. It requires that a lender 
stop charging interest on the outstanding debt of any bankrupt debtor 
who participates in a debt management program. The practical result is 
that lenders are forced to either waive further payments on an 
extension of credit or have the debt discharged in bankruptcy. This 
will not be good for the consumer, the borrower.
  This is a sweeping change in modern banking practices. We have had no 
hearings in the Senate Banking Committee. I ask my colleagues to oppose 
this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to Akaka amendment 
No. 105.
  Mr. AKAKA. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Clinton) 
is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Martinez). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 38, nays 61, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 38 Leg.]

                                YEAS--38

     Akaka
     Bayh
     Boxer
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                                NAYS--61

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dole
     Domenici
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kyl
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Roberts
     Santorum
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     Clinton
       
  The amendment (No. 105) was rejected.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. TALENT. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

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