Reps. Conyers, 31 Other Members, Introduce Bill to Relieve Bankruptcy Burden On Katrina Survivors

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    davidswanson
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September 08, 2005

Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Michigan, 14th District
Ranking Member, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
Dean, Congressional Black Caucus
www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/index.html

Reps. Conyers, 31 Other Members, Introduce Bill to Relieve Bankruptcy Burden On Katrina Survivors

Today, 32 Democratic Members of Congress, led by Reps. John Conyers, Jr., Mel Watt, Jerrold Nadler, and Sheila Jackson Lee, introduced the "Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005", to protect the hundreds of thousands of families and small businesses financially devastated by Hurricane Katrina from being penalized by anti-debtor provisions contained in a new bankruptcy law scheduled to take effect next month. Rep. Conyers released the following statement:

"We are concerned that just as survivors of Hurricane Katrina are beginning to rebuild their lives, the new bankruptcy law will result in a further financial whammy. Unfortunately, the new bankruptcy law will have the consequence of preventing devastated families from being able to obtain relief from the massive and unexpected financial obligations they are incurring.

The inflexible bankruptcy law will force victims of Hurricane Katrina to repay debt with income they no longer have, file paper work with documents that no longer exist, and travel to courts that are possibly hundreds of miles away. It is simply absurd to place these obstacles between survivors and financial security. Our bill will insure that we do not compound a natural disaster with a man made financial disaster."

The legislation was discussed today on the "Al Franken Show," resulting in a flood of calls by concerned listeners to Capitol Hill.

The full list of original cosponsors is as follows: Mr. Conyers: Mr. Watt; Ms. Jackson Lee; Mr. Nadler; Mr. Taylor of Mississippi; Mr. Kucinich; Mr. Moran; Ms. Maloney; Ms. Wasserman Schultz; Ms. Lee; Ms. Linda Sanchez; Ms. Carson; Ms. Davis of California; Ms. Lofgren; Mr. Crowley; Mr. Serrano; Mr. Scott; Ms. Woolsey; Ms. McCollum; Mr. Rothman; Mr. Grijalva; Mr. Meehan; Mr. Blumenauer; Mr. Berman; Mr. Delahunt; Ms. Schakowsky; Mr. Emanule; Mr. McDermott; Mr. Sanders; Mr. Udall of New Mexico; Ms. Watson; and, Mrs. Capps

Comments

Bankruptcy

  • aztec's picture
    aztec
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09/10/05
9:11am

The rules should be changed for all, not just the victims of Katrina. There is no longer the possibility of a bankrupt individual getting a clean slate (gratis the credit card companies). Corporations, on the other hand, can still wipe out their debts by going bankrupt, particularly obligations under pension plans and union contracts.

U.S. bankrupt?

  • googa1's picture
    googa1
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09/10/05
9:33am

Iraq rebuilding under threat as US runs out of money

Key rebuilding projects in Iraq are grinding to a halt because American money is running out and security has diverted funds intended for electricity, water and sanitation, according to US officials.

Plans to overhaul the country's infrastructure have been downsized, postponed or abandoned because the $24bn (£13bn) budget approved by Congress has been dwarfed by the scale of the task.

"We have scaled back our projects in many areas," James Jeffrey, a senior state department adviser on Iraq, told a congressional committee in Washington, in remarks quoted by the Los Angeles Times. "We do not have the money."

Snip

Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress also said administrative bungling had played a part.

Snip

Some areas now get less than four hours of electricity a day, and there has been a surge in cases of dehydration and diarrhoea among children and the elderly. The cost of providing enough electricity for the country by 2010 is put at $20bn.

Fuel shortages have produced mile-long queues at petrol stations. Crude oil production is around 2.2m barrels a day, still below its pre-war peaks, according to the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Snip

But the house appropriations foreign operations subcommittee is losing patience.
"It seems almost incomprehensible to me that we haven't been able to do better," said Don Sherwood, a Pennsylvania Republican. Another Republican, the committee chairman, Jim Kolbe, said the Bush administration's vision of stabilising Iraq by funding reconstruction was "a castle built of sand".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1566176,00.html

Bush is making sure Osama gets his wishes. Osama wanted the U.S. soliders out of Saudi Arabia - Done! Osama wanted to fight the U.S. military on different fronts to divide their forces - Done! Osama wants the U.S.bankrupt so that we stop supporting Israel and George is well on his way to helping to achieve this.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000