Maxine Waters: “the passing of this bill would be a complete detriment to the American people. For many Americans find themselves…”

“the passing of this bill would be a complete detriment to the American people. For many Americans find themselves, usually through no fault of their own, facing bankruptcy. This scenario could happen to almost anyone. Mr. Speaker, the main reasons Americans file for bankruptcy is not to abuse the system and avoid paying their bills. Americans file for bankruptcy usually due to catastrophic medical expenses, divorce, or the loss of their jobs. Many important, common-sense amendments on subjects such as alimony, child support, exemptions for medical emergencies, and job loss, underage credit card lending, predatory lending and protection for disabled veterans, just to name a few, were all rejected by the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Speaker, amendments should have been made to this bill to carve out exemptions for certain basic needs so Americans can still have some equity or resources should they be forced into bankruptcy. More specifically, one loophole in the bankruptcy bill leaves the victims of domestic violence and their children left with no resources should they file for bankruptcy. This is so unfair. The bill should have been allowed to be modified to secure better protection for domestic abuse victims by granting them relief from summary eviction from their houses.…”