Ed Royce: “Enacting a substitute bill on which there has been no hearings or public comment is no way to approach a task as…”

“Enacting a substitute bill on which there has been no hearings or public comment is no way to approach a task as important as reforming the Nation's bankruptcy system. Our bankruptcy laws play an important and necessary role in protecting Americans who really need these laws, and that is the key, need. But what our act intends to do is to make the existing bankruptcy system a needs-based system, addressing the flaw in the current system that encourages people to file for bankruptcy and walk away from debts regardless of whether they are able to repay any portion of what they owe, and it does this while protecting those who truly need protection. Between September of 1997 and September of 1998 in my home State of California there were 203,000 personal bankruptcy petitions filed. This translates into one bankruptcy petition filed for every 56 households. Now that is almost three times the next highest State, New York. Moreover, the number of bankruptcies in California has more than doubled since 1990. The cost to all of us is very great for the rest of the country. This is the cost borne not only by the business community but by the consumers who pay their bills responsibly and end up having these costs shifted to them. Last year, the 55 of 56 households in my State who paid their bills on time were forced to pick up the $550 per household tab for those who walked away from their debts.”