Pete Sessions: “I would like to join Senator Hatch in expressing my admiration and respect for Senator Grassley and the members of his…”

“I would like to join Senator Hatch in expressing my admiration and respect for Senator Grassley and the members of his committee who have worked hard on this bankruptcy reform legislation. It has obtained almost universal support. It passed the committee 16 to 2, and it reflects a good step in our public policy. As Senator Grassley says, the current liberalized bankruptcy law discourages personal responsibility, that is, it makes it easy and even encourages persons to avoid their responsibility. That is not good. A Harvard professor has written a book which talked about how during the first 150 years of this Nation's existence every law that came up for consideration was judged on the basis of whether it made our people more responsible and better citizens. I think that is a goal we have lost sight of in recent years. What we need to do is make sure our legislation sets standards that call people to their highest and best ideals and not dumbing them down and encouraging them to cop out, to take the easy way out, to avoid their debts when there is no real justification for it. Most people may not understand, but a person making $70,000 with $30,000 in debts can walk into a bankruptcy court in America, at any place, at any time, and file for bankruptcy. Even though he would be perfectly able to pay off those debts, he can wipe them all out. This is true even if, just a few months before, he or she had signed a promissory note to pay those debts.”