mr. speaker , i am submitting for the record the following remarks from mr. arkadi kuhlmann , ceo of ing direct , in opposition to the bankruptcy reform legislation under consideration . 
i remain a strong supporter of s. 256 ; however , i believe mr. kuhlmann 's statement should be made part of the record . 
statement of arkadi kuhlmann , ceo , ing direct mr. speaker , i am arkadi kuhlmann , ceo of ing direct , a federally chartered thrift headquartered in wilmington , delaware . 
ing direct launched in the u.s. in september 2000 to challenge traditional banking by touting the high interest , no fee and no minimum orange savings account as its signature product , with a brand vision to lead americans back to saving . 
ing direct has since expanded its product line to include the orange mortgage , the orange home equity line of credit , orange cds and the orange investment account . 
with over 2.5 million customers and more than $ 43 billion in assets , ing direct is the fourth largest thrift in the u.s. the house is now considering consumer bankruptcy legislation that would make major changes to how consumers ' debts and obligations are treated in the bankruptcy process . 
thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony for the record on this legislation . 
despite the many important and positive changes this bill would make to our bankruptcy laws , this proposal remains seriously flawed . 
one significant oversight is the bill 's failure to consider one of the biggest problems we face in business today : identity theft . 
the washington post ran a story recently about a woman whose identity was stolen , yet her credit card company forced the fraudster 's debt on her by using the arbitration clause in her card agreement . 
the bankruptcy bill must address the possibility that identity theft could lead to financial devastation through no fault of the person 's own . 
in addition to overlooking the problem of identity theft , this proposal had additional shortcomings . 
it actually encourages further bad lending decisions by removing an important market discipline -- the possibility of a clean bankruptcy . 
without important changes , millions of consumers , who might otherwise be savers , will be encouraged into debt by aggressive credit card and other lending . 
we believe it is crucial that a serious study of the connection between credit card marketing and personal bankruptcy be completed . 
the bill as drafted requires such a study . 
we challenge the congress to take a very hard look at the results of the study and consider further legislation , if necessary . 
another important issue is the bill 's creation of a `` means test. '' by giving disparate treatment to secured versus unsecured debt , the law would treat secured creditors even more favorably than under current rules . 
we believe the means test should be applied across the board or not at all . 
we at ing direct believe this country is still willing to give working americans -- the engine of our economy -- a second chance when debt overwhelms them . 
this bill seriously limits that second chance . 
thank you for the opportunity to present our views . 
