Chuck Grassley: “I make crystal clear when we talk about $2,000 and $10,000 and $30,000, as the Senator from Massachusetts has, it sounds…”

“I make crystal clear when we talk about $2,000 and $10,000 and $30,000, as the Senator from Massachusetts has, it sounds as if we are just clamping down on people who should be getting a fresh start in chapter 7 instead of being chapter 13 with ability to repay. I make very clear the first $1 million is exempted. That causes a problem for the Senator from Massachusetts. I am embarrassed to present a bill to the Senate of the United States that says a millionaire is going to be protected from bankruptcy court if he can pay his bills. Now the Senator from Massachusetts raises a very legitimate point. There could be a catastrophic illness that could eat up a lot of the money, even $1 million, presumably. We have even taken that into consideration; that is, we have an interest of justice exception that would be applicable in this case. So something over $1 million could be exempted. I hope the Senator from Massachusetts realizes we have gone through this last year. We tried to accommodate the Senator from Massachusetts. We had a compromise I was embarrassed to accept in the sense that a $1 million exemption is way too high for my background. But I did it because I thought it was important we move this legislation along. We are talking about just preserving in the bill before the Senate a compromise worked out last year that would be law today except for a pocket veto by President Clinton.”