Lindsey Graham: “I, too, would like to echo my congratulations to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) and all those who have…”

“I, too, would like to echo my congratulations to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) and all those who have worked so hard to bring this bill to the floor. We are in the last hours of the Congress and I believe we are on the verge of doing something good for the American consumer and business community. This bill is the reaction to a problem. Under the old bankruptcy code, there were people throughout the land running up hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts, making incomes of $100,000, being able to file bankruptcy and walk away from their obligations, leaving a lot of the American business community holding the bag. This bill has a balance to it. It is going to change the culture of our country. It is going to allow people to start over in a very fair fashion but it is going to ask people, if you can pay, to pay your debts the best that you can. Chapter 7 if you get under that provision, you discharge all of your debts and you basically walk away. This bill is saying, Wait a minute. If your income is such after you take your food, your clothing, private school expenses, necessary living expenses in a liberal fashion and compute it, that if you can afford to pay $100 a month over a 5-year period to your creditors, pay it. Because that is good for the American business community. It is good for the economy.”