[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 175 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6760-S6761]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Whitehouse, 
        and Mr. Blumenthal):
  S. 3505. A bill to require analysis of various bankruptcy proposals 
in order to determine whether those proposals would reduce systemic 
risk and moral hazard, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Bankruptcy 
Fairness Act, with the goals of bolstering financial stability in the 
United States and requiring the necessary analysis to assess the 
consequences of potential changes we might make in the future to the 
Bankruptcy Code.
  One of the many lessons that we learned from the financial crisis is 
that reckless Wall Street behavior can have devastating consequences on 
middle class Americans, too many of whom lost their jobs, their nest 
eggs, and their homes. Statistics bear this out. Nationally, over 
750,000 jobs per month were lost between January and April 2009. In 
Rhode Island, over 1,800 jobs per month were lost during this same 
period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped from an average of 
13,677.89 in July 2007 to an average of 7,235.47 in March 2009, 
resulting in a 47.1 percent loss for many families who for years had 
set aside hard earned paychecks for emergencies, college tuitions, and 
retirements. Nationwide, there were nearly 7.5 million home 
foreclosures and short sales between July 2007 and November 2014. 
Unfortunately, the impacts remain to this day for some of our neighbors 
in Rhode Island and throughout the country as they continue to look for 
a decent paying job or are faced with gut-wrenching financial decisions 
like whether to turn the heat off or to skip feeding the family another 
day just to make ends meet.
  That lesson of how many of our neighbors suffered due to the sins of 
the rich and powerful seems to be fading for some of my colleagues. 
Indeed, there appears to be an effort to further rig the system in 
favor of elites, this time through the Bankruptcy code. We must stop 
this effort cold in its tracks. Before we make changes to the 
Bankruptcy code, we should ensure that a thorough analysis is conducted 
so we have facts at hand. If anything, we should be seeking to restore 
fairness and balance to the Bankruptcy code, and this is what my 
legislation strives for.
  Specifically, my bill directs the Financial Stability Oversight 
Council and the Office of Financial Research to do two things: work 
hand in hand with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts 
and the Executive Office for United States Trustees to ensure that 
bankruptcy judges have, on an ongoing basis, the necessary financial 
expertise to oversee the orderly resolution of a failed mega bank; and 
update the Administrative Office of the United States Courts' post-
crisis review of the Bankruptcy Code's ability to resolve complex 
financial institutions and make recommendations to Congress regarding 
changes that would strengthen financial stability in the United States.
  Second, my legislation permits the federal agencies that supervise 
large complex financial institutions to offer their advice and 
expertise to the bankruptcy court whenever a mega bank files for 
bankruptcy. This is important because these Federal agencies can assist 
the court in deciphering complex financial products while also 
providing the court with an independent assessment of how the court's 
decisions could affect financial stability in the United States.
  Lastly, my legislation directs our financial regulators and experts 
to do the necessary homework to justify proposed changes to the 
Bankruptcy Code. Some proposed changes have drawn praise, and others 
have drawn concern. For example, should Wall Street banks still be able 
to cut to the front of the line and take more than their fair share, 
while ordinary creditors, such as employees and customers, have to wait 
in the back of the line? When a jumbo bank gets in trouble, why should 
those customers who place the riskiest bets, such as large Wall Street 
hedge funds, get paid back in full while ordinary customers may not get 
paid back at all? Should shareholders be prevented from holding the 
mega bank's board of directors accountable for most actions, when a 
mega bank files for bankruptcy? Is it really possible for a trillion-
dollar jumbo bank to be processed through bankruptcy safely in just 48 
hours without hurting our economy? Is it fair that ordinary creditors, 
such as small businesses, who are owed their hard earned dollars, would 
be given virtually no notice of a mega bank's bankruptcy, making it 
nearly impossible for them to fight for their rights?
  These are important, incredibly complex, questions that need thorough 
answers. Many of my colleagues have called for greater deliberation and 
analysis before enacting legislation. My legislation heeds this call. 
Let's take a moment to ensure that we've really done our homework so 
that we can all be confident that we're really accomplishing what we're 
aiming to do: making our financial system safer and restoring fairness 
and balance to the Bankruptcy Code, especially for hardworking ordinary 
Americans.
  I thank Senator Brown, Senator Merkley, Senator Whitehouse, and 
Senator Blumenthal for joining me in introducing the Bankruptcy 
Fairness Act. I also thank the U.S. Department of the Treasury, 
Americans for Financial Reform, Harvard Law School Professor Mark Roe, 
Delaware Law School Professor Bruce Grohsgal, and MIT Professor Simon 
Johnson for their support. I urge our colleagues to join us in pressing 
for action on this legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 3506. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make 
technical corrections, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, the Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2016 
makes tax technical corrections and other corrections including 
clerical and deadwood-related corrections. The bill revises and updates 
S. 2775, the Technical Corrections Act of 2016, which was introduced on 
April 11, 2016. Ranking Member Wyden and I have asked the nonpartisan 
Joint Committee on Taxation to make available to the public a technical 
explanation of the bill, JCX-91-16. The technical explanation expresses 
the Committee's

[[Page S6761]]

understanding and legislative intent behind this important legislation. 
It is available on the Joint Committee's website at www.jct.gov.
 ______
                                 
      By Mr. CORNYN:
  S. 3507. A bill to extend the waiver of limitations with respect to 
excluding from gross income amounts received by wrongfully incarcerated 
individuals; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 3507

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF WAIVER OF LIMITATIONS WITH RESPECT TO 
                   EXCLUDING FROM GROSS INCOME AMOUNTS RECEIVED BY 
                   WRONGFULLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS.

       (a) In General.--Section 304(d) of the Protecting Americans 
     from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 is amended by striking ``1-year'' 
     and inserting ``2-year''.
       (b) Technical Correction.--Section 304(d) of such Act is 
     amended by striking ``application of this Act'' and inserting 
     ``application of this section''.
       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect as if included in section 304 of the 
     Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015.

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