Chuck Grassley: “we are now, as I understand it, on the bankruptcy bill. As the Republican manager for this legislation, I want to speak…”

“we are now, as I understand it, on the bankruptcy bill. As the Republican manager for this legislation, I want to speak to an amendment which was offered Friday by the Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold, but also to speak generally about the behavior of the bankruptcy bar as it relates to the amount of bankruptcies that are being filed, which were at a historical high of 1.4 million last year. That was a 30-percent increase. There was probably a 25-percent increase in 1996 over 1995. As we all know, there is an explosion of filings for consumer bankruptcy. I have blamed some of that on the law of 1978. That is why we have this bill before us, to change the law so it is not so easy to go into bankruptcy. In 20 years, I have had hundreds of people talk to me about it being too easy to go into bankruptcy. It ought to be harder, in their judgment. I have not had one person say to me that it ought to be easier to go into bankruptcy, and I have had people who have gone through bankruptcy tell me how easy it is to get into bankruptcy. I think the law of 1978 is at fault to some extent. I think the situation we have with Congress with 30 years of deficit spending, that Government doesn't have to live within its income, sends a signal to people in this country that it is all right for individuals to live beyond their income and avoid paying for it.”