The New Bankruptcy Laws Leave Questionable Legislative History
Legislative history of the Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act is a testament to political clout wielded by Washington lobbyists. Through various forms since 1994, proposed new bankruptcy laws provided by the Act developed primarily at the insistence of commercial banks, insurance and investment companies. Republican legislators consistently vote for the passage of reform and related new bankruptcy laws drafted by special interest groups. Throughout the Clinton administration, these bills and related new bankruptcy laws consistently passed the House yet stalled in the Senate with the blessing of President Clinton. The bill passed the Senate one time, and was vetoed by the President.
During 2002, new bankruptcy laws & reform bills passed the House again and were narrowly blocked in the Senate despite a Republican majority. Republican Senators who voted against reform and new bankruptcy laws drew sharp criticism from George W. Bush. A special interest group, the Financial Services Round Table (a special interest group representing 100 of the largest banks, insurance and investment companies in America), is largely responsible for drafting new bankruptcy laws and is one of Bush's largest campaign contributors.
The new bankruptcy laws and reform acts legislative history included HR975 in 2003, known as the Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (a.k.a. Senate Bankruptcy Reform Bill). The proposed new law passed the House again in 2003, and on 03-21-03, was placed on the Senate legislative calendar for future consideration. Bush was confident, yet the vote was consistently blocked by the committee through the end of 2003:
- H.R. 3150 - Reform Act of 1999, new bankruptcy laws defeated
- H.R. 833, H.R.2415 - Reform Act of 2000 passed - new bankruptcy laws vetoed by President Clinton
- H.R. 333 - Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2001 - new bankruptcy laws originally passed the House on March 5, 2001, rejected by the Senate. On 11-15-02 the bill again passed the House 244-116 urged by Bush - again stalled in the Senate
- H.R. 975 - Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2003 - new bankruptcy laws passed the House, placed on the Senate legislative calendar 3-21-03 for future consideration (Senate Calendar No. 50) - vote blocked by committee
- During the 2004 sessions, numerous amendments were added despite a Republican majority, and hold out moderates effectively blocked passage
Effective Date of New Bankruptcy Laws
The Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 became effective on October 17, 2005, on the 180th day after President Bush signed the bill.
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