mr. speaker , this bankruptcy bill is but the latest attempt by the republican congress to undermine the economic security of the middle class . 
health care costs , not spending sprees , are the single largest causes of bankruptcies in america . 
health care costs . 
medical bankruptcies have gone up by more than 2 , 000 percent in the last 25 years . 
why are we here trying to increase the profits of credit card companies while doing nothing to lower the cost of health care for middle-class american families ? 
it is disgraceful that this bill is being considered under a closed rule , with just an hour of debate , with no opportunity for amendment . 
supporters of this bill claim to have exempted service members who become disabled on active duty , but to be exempted you have to go into debt while on active duty . 
a veteran who returns home from iraq or afghanistan and then goes into debt because of the injuries sustained on active duty is still subject to the punitive means test . 
what a way to treat the men and women in uniform fighting on behalf of the united states . 
it is an unfair loophole that we should have had the opportunity to close here on the house floor . 
another blatant unfairness is that this bill allows millionaires to shield their assets in estates in florida and texas , but no such homestead exemption exists for middle-class families who suffer serious medical expenses . 
we tried to offer an amendment allowing a limited homestead exemption for families with crushing medical debts . 
unfortunately , no amendments were allowed . 
it is an outrage that we can not debate these issues here on the house floor . 
this bill is simply an attempt to reward credit card companies by removing a last resort available to middle-class families who fall on hard times . 
i urge members to oppose this terrible bill . 
