mr. speaker , thank you for allowing me the opportunity to offer my remarks today regarding s. 256 , the so-called `` bankruptcy abuse prevention and consumer protection act of 2005. '' the issue of bankruptcy reform is extremely important and it is critical that we pass a measure that will ensure greater personal responsibility of debtors , as well as ensure that credit card companies and other creditors take responsibility for their irresponsible lending . 
unfortunately , this bill does neither . 
in fact , this bill overly penalizes working families and takes no action against reckless and predatory lending . 
mr. speaker , in addition to my reservations about the legislation , i also strongly object to the rule under which s. 256 is being debated . 
the majority has , once again , passed a rule that stifles debate and blocks serious and substantive amendments . 
there were more than 30 thoughtful amendments brought before the rules committee , yet they did not allow a single one to be brought before the full house . 
these amendments would have addressed the impact that this bill would have on groups such as disabled veterans returning from iraq , single parents , families experiencing a catastrophic medical event , and people who are victims of identity theft . 
this continued smothering of the democratic process by the majority is shameful and must stop . 
as to the substance of the legislation , it is no secret that the number of bankruptcies has risen considerably in the past twenty years . 
in 1980 , there were 330 , 000 bankruptcies in the united states . 
in 2003 , that number rose to over 1.66 million . 
the number of filings has dropped 3.8 percent in 2004 down to 1.59 million . 
though this is headed in the right direction , i understand that more has to be done . 
s. 256 , however , is not the answer . 
s. 256 is full of provisions that i adamantly oppose . 
it imposes a rigid means test , endangers child support , and allows millionaires to continue to shelter their assets in mansions . 
these provisions result in an unbalanced and punitive measure that will have a devastating effect on women , the unemployed , and the elderly . 
reform in this bill is skewed toward restricting the consumer 's access to relief from overwhelming debt , while making it easier on those creditors who encourage additional unwise borrowing . 
s. 256 fails to find a middle ground between lenders and borrowers . 
while it is critical that individuals begin taking greater responsibility for their debt , so too must the credit card industry take greater responsibility for shamelessly targeting individuals with their credit card applications . 
it is these creditors who subsequently grant these individuals higher levels of credit at high interest rates . 
it is the creditors who saddle these individuals with insurmountable levels of debt . 
s. 256 does nothing to help break this vicious cycle . 
i would like to reiterate that i strongly support the principle of increased personal responsibility for debt , but i believe this bill does more harm than good . 
i believe we would be better served if we could fully debate the merits of this legislation , as well as substantive amendments that were disallowed from consideration by the full house . 
unfortunately , once again , we can not , and i urge my colleagues to oppose this legislation . 
