Mike Levin: “earlier in the year, when the Bankruptcy Reform bill was before the Senate, I voted in favor of the bill. I said at the…”

“earlier in the year, when the Bankruptcy Reform bill was before the Senate, I voted in favor of the bill. I said at the time that ``over the course of debate, the Senate adopted more than 40 amendments, making this a more reasonable approach to bankruptcy reform.'' However, I also said that ``should this legislation come back from conference . . . without the modest amendments we adopted in the Senate, I will consider opposing the bill at that time.'' The bill before us is one I cannot support. The negotiators who worked out the differences between the Senate and House passed versions of the bill, deleted or weakened many of the provisions that were key components of the Senate-passed bankruptcy reform bill. Both of the amendments that I sponsored were deleted from the final version of the bill. One of those amendments simply required a study to determine if credit card companies use residences or zip codes to determine credit worthiness. The other amendment I sponsored would have prohibited credit card companies from applying interest charges on the paid portion of a balance during a so-called grace period. Another provision that was deleted was Senator Schumer's amendment, which passed by an enormous margin in the Senate. The Schumer Amendment would have ensured that perpetrators of clinic violence, who incurred debt as a result of unlawful acts, could not discharge that debt in bankruptcy proceedings.…”