Chuck Grassley: “I suggest, first of all, as the Senator from Massachusetts has correctly stated, there were 1.4 million bankruptcies…”

“I suggest, first of all, as the Senator from Massachusetts has correctly stated, there were 1.4 million bankruptcies last year. That was a 30-percent increase over the previous year. And the previous year was a big percentage increase over that previous year. So in the last 3 years we have seen an explosion of bankruptcy filings in the United States. That is a tremendous economic problem. It is a problem for families that have to go through this. It is a problem for the consumers because bankruptcies raise costs for consumers. And there are lots of reasons for the rise in bankruptcies. In the 20 years since we have last had major bankruptcy legislation, we have seen a dramatic increase in bankruptcy filings, more than under any previous act. And we have had national bankruptcy legislation for 100 years this year. In the period of time since we have had the latest bankruptcy legislation that was passed in the year 1978, out at the grassroots of America there has been a feeling that it is too easy to get into bankruptcy.”