mr. speaker , i rise today in strong support of s. 256 , the `` bankruptcy abuse and consumer prevention act of 2005. '' it has been seven years since we made our first attempt to reform the bankruptcy system in the 105th congress and thanks to the tireless efforts of chairman sensenbrenner 's committee , we can see a real chance for passing a full and comprehensive bill this year . 
mr. speaker , we have seen a sharp increase in bankruptcies over the past 25 years . 
in 2003 , consumer filings peaked at over 1.6 million filings -- a 465 percent increase from 1980 . 
those who believe credit card companies , mortgage lenders and other financial institutions are bearing the costs of consumer 's filing for bankruptcy do n't understand how business works . 
american families are paying the price for this debt -- some studies reflect $ 400 per year in every household -- by higher interest rates on their credit cards , auto loans , school loans and mortgages . 
when the legislation before us passes today it will be the american families that are the real winners . 
this legislation balances the consumer 's challenge of debt repayment with the needs of businesses to collect money rightfully owed to them . 
in an effort to better educate consumers and improve financial literacy , the legislation requires many filers of bankruptcy to attend financial counseling . 
this change , coupled with congressional encouragement for schools to incorporate personal finance curricula in elementary and secondary education programs , are both useful methods of curbing future debt . 
as chairman of the education reform subcommittee , which has jurisdiction over all k-12 programs , i feel strongly that educating future spenders can prevent debts incurred as adults . 
i also support the new requirement for lending institutions , which will now have to take additional steps to ensure consumers fully understand the ramifications of credit spending . 
credit card billing statements will now reflect the actual time it would take to repay a full balance at a specified interest rate ; contain warnings to alert consumers that paying only the minimum will increase the amount of interest ; and list a toll-free number for consumer 's to call for an estimate of the time it would take to repay the balance if only the minimum is paid . 
with these steps , lending institutions can improve their chances of repayment while pro-actively educating consumers of true costs associated with borrowing . 
i believe the `` bankruptcy abuse and consumer protection act '' reflects fair solutions to minimizing spending abuse , while protecting those with genuine hardship . 
relief is still available for low and moderate income families . 
however , this legislation will end the protection for those who make obvious attempts to abuse their credit . 
those who are able to pay their debts -- will now be held to those commitments -- through means testing . 
a means test would be used to determine a debtor 's eligibility for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief , where the majority of debt is excused , or chapter 13 , where a significant portion of debt must be repaid . 
importantly , disabled veterans would be exempt from the means test if their debts occurred primarily as a result of being called to active duty or for homeland defense operations . 
lastly , mr. speaker , this legislation also includes four additional judges for delaware 's bankruptcy court . 
this increase is long overdue , as the bankruptcy caseloads in delaware continue to exceed other districts ' caseloads for chapter 11 businesses cases . 
last year alone , weighted filings for delaware judges were 11 , 789 , while the national average was 1 , 763 -- in other words , the delaware caseload was 10 times the national average . 
the delaware district tends to have the largest chapter 11 business cases , often referred to as the `` mega '' chapter 11 cases which are `` those involving extremely large assets , unusual public interest , a high level of creditor involvement , complex debt , a significant amount of related litigation , or a combination of such factors. '' these are again , mr. speaker , i want to thank chairman sensenbrenner for his years of strong and tenacious support for this legislation and thank him for not giving up on these important , common-sense changes to our bankruptcy system . 
i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation . 
