Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, first I would point out to the gentleman that the court would merely disallow those claims that the gentleman rattled off from the newspaper. Just because someone files them does not mean they are going to get them. I cannot think of a Federal bankruptcy court that would allow that sort of thing. Mr. Chairman, it is no answer to assert that "glitches", so-called, can be resolved through the bill's allowance for extraordinary circumstances, that has been raised more than once here, because establishing that a particular expense is extraordinary is neither simple nor cost free. These circumstances can only be established on a motion to the court prepared by legal counsel. We are talking about bankrupts. The motion must be detailed, documented and subject to creditor challenge. Moreover, the burden of proof lies with the debtor in establishing extraordinary circumstances. So if the debtor's motion fails, he is then subject to paying the creditor's fees and costs. Collectively, these risks provide a tremendous disincentive for debtors to claim extraordinary circumstances. To add insult to injury, the bill does not even provide for the deduction of the legal expenses needed to establish extraordinary circumstances. The IRS standards should offend us all, every Member of this body. They have been rejected by us, abandoned by the IRS, and, yet, the credit card companies would have us apply them in bankruptcy.”