Bob Dole: “I want to take a few moments to express my support for the Bankruptcy Amendments Act. As my colleagues know, this bill…”

“I want to take a few moments to express my support for the Bankruptcy Amendments Act. As my colleagues know, this bill is designed not to overhaul the current bankruptcy system, but rather to streamline a system that has worked relatively well since 1978, when the current Bankruptcy Code was adopted. Modernizing the bankruptcy system is vitally important today, as the number of bankruptcy filings continues to increase. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, for example, estimates that nearly 1 million bankruptcy filings were made in 1992, triple the number just 8 years earlier. Some of the worthwhile provisions in the bill include: Small Business Investment Corporations: This provision would prohibit Small Business Investment Companies, or SBIC's, from filing for bankruptcy under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. As a result of this change, financially troubled SBIC's would opt instead for liquidation under the receivership laws regulated by the Small Business Administration. Under Chapter 7, the Small Business Administration recovers little of nothing, since the SBA claim is unsecured. On the other hand, when the SBA acts as a receiver, it normally recovers up to 100 percent of its claim. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that prohibiting SBIC's from filing for bankruptcy under chapter 7 would save the Federal Government $52 million in fiscal year 1994.”