James Barcia: “H.R. 3150, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1998, is not a perfect bill and I have reservations about the specific language.…”

“H.R. 3150, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1998, is not a perfect bill and I have reservations about the specific language. However, I am voting for the legislation because I strongly believe that people must take responsibility for their financial decisions. Last year more than 1.33 million households filed for bankruptcy which amounted to over $44 billion. And when these consumers file for bankruptcy, the rest of us pay for it. We pay in the form of higher interest rates. We pay in the form higher credit card fees. We pay through a growing number of penalty charges for late payment even when the 'late payment' is more the fault of the postal service than that of the consumer. I share my colleagues concerns about giving families a new beginning if they incurred debt beyond their control, such as high medical costs from an accident or recovery from a disaster. But when the reason for financial difficulty is a lack of personal financial responsibility and bankruptcy is viewed as an 'easy way out' then the system has failed. Our nation's bankruptcy laws play an important and necessary role in our society. We must ensure that our bankruptcy system does not unintentionally encourage those who can take responsibility for their financial obligations not to do so. Such an abuse of our bankruptcy laws is fundamentally unfair to those who play by the rules and take responsibility for their personal obligations.”