10-14-2000

BANKRUPTCY: Bankruptcy Bill Gets Another Chance

The House on Oct. 12 voted 297-114 to approve long-stalled legislation
reforming the nation's bankruptcy laws, even as the White House renewed
its intention to veto the measure because of its failure to protect truly
needy debtors. House Democrats assailed the bankruptcy reform bill, both
because of its substance and because of the backdoor procedural route
Republicans employed in moving it to the floor. The day before, Senate and
House Republicans agreed to attach the 400-page bankruptcy bill to the
"shell" of unrelated State Department reauthorization
legislation. The House originally approved the bankruptcy bill last year,
and the Senate followed suit earlier this year, but it has languished in
conference committee since then. The Senate outlook for the bill remains
unclear: Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has vowed to get the
legislation to the President's desk by year's end, but some Democrats, led
by Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, have pledged to continue a
filibuster.


Pamela Barnett/CongressDaily

National Journal