[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S10658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND CHARITABLE DONATION CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2006

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Religious 
Liberty and Charitable Donation Clarification Act of 2006. My 
distinguished colleague from Illinois, Senator Obama, and I have worked 
diligently and quickly to clarify the treatment of charitable 
contributions in chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code. As many of my 
colleagues know, a bankruptcy court in the Northern District of New 
York recently upheld an objection to the confirmation of a chapter 13 
plan due to the inclusion of a charitable contribution in the 
disposable income calculation. Shortly after learning of the decision 
I, along with Senators Grassley and Sessions, sent a letter to the 
Department of Justice expressing my concern about the treatment of 
charitable contributions in the Chapter 13 context, and while I believe 
the Department of Justice will affirm its policy of allowing charitable 
contributions that are consistent with the Religious Liberty and 
Charitable Contribution Protection Act of 1998, I do not want the 
religious practices and beliefs of individuals subject to the vagaries 
of judicial interpretation.
  As a whole, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection 
Act of 2005, BAPCPA, was--and still is--a good bill. However, like many 
large bills, it was not perfect. As a key architect of the recent 
bankruptcy reforms, I can say without equivocation that Congress 
intended to preserve the Religious Liberty and Charitable Contribution 
Protection Act of 1998 in BAPCPA. Unfortunately, the Northern District 
of New York thought differently.
  I do not like impromptu legislative responses to judicial decisions, 
particularly ones with limited precedential value; however, I believe 
that Senator Obama and I have put together a narrowly-tailored 
clarification that leaves little doubt about Congress' intent when it 
passed BAPCPA. I want to make it very clear that this bill does not, in 
any way, affirm the Northern District of New York Bankruptcy Court's 
reasoning in In re Diagostino. I agree with the Department of Justice's 
position that charitable contributions consistent with the requirements 
of the 1998 Religious Liberty and Charitable Contribution Protection 
Act should be allowed under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and 
Consumer Protection Act of 2005. The bill that Senator Obama and I 
introduced is meant to simply clarify existing law in furtherance of 
the Department's interpretation and Congress's intent.

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