Mike Levin: “once again the Senate will vote on a bankruptcy reform bill. In the last session of Congress, when the bankruptcy bill…”

“once again the Senate will vote on a bankruptcy reform bill. In the last session of Congress, when the bankruptcy bill came before the Senate, I voted in favor of the bill. I said at the time that because of the amendments adopted in the Senate, the bill was a more reasonable approach to bankruptcy reform that had been reported by the Judiciary Committee. However, I further stated that if the legislation came back from conference, without those modest amendments, I would consider opposing the bill. In the end, the bankruptcy legislation came back from conference in a form that I could not support. The conferees who worked out the differences on the bill deleted or weakened many of the provisions I had supported. Today, I will vote for this bill with the hope that it does not return from conference in a form I cannot support. The Senate today adopted the Kohl amendment establishing a nationwide homestead cap. That provision must be retained in conference. The Senate has now spoken twice with respect to homestead abuse. We cannot legitimately reform the bankruptcy system if we do not prevent wealthy debtors from shielding luxurious homes while shedding thousands of dollars of debt in bankruptcy.”