mr. speaker , i yield to myself such time as i may consume . 
i want to thank the gentleman from wisconsin , distinguished chairman of the committee on the judiciary , for bringing forth those statistics and that stack of documents that he just went over ; and i want to add one more statistic to that , and this is that since the 105th congress , the house and the senate have passed bankruptcy reform legislation a dozen times , with a vote tally of 2 , 455 for and 871 against . 
to my distinguished colleague from florida , in regard to the amendment process in the committee on rules , my colleague knows that the other side was offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute . 
that substitute amendment could have included all 35 democrats , who my colleagues allege were shut out . 
every one of those 35 amendments could have been included in an amendment in the nature of a substitute ; but apparently they just could not get their act together , did not have an amendment and passed on that opportunity . 
in regard to the gentlewoman from california and the concerns about identity theft , opponents of the means test of the bankruptcy legislation have attempted to claim that a debtor should be except from the means test if the debt is related to identity theft . 
this is a red herring , mr. speaker , because consumers who are victims of identity theft do not owe the debts that result from identity theft ; and , therefore , it is not an issue addressed by the bankruptcy court . 
we all understand the sentiment of trying to help identity theft victims . 
amendments related to identity theft , though , are not necessary . 
they would inadvertently do serious harm to consumers and create a significant potential for fraud and abuse . 
a consumer who is victimized when an identity thief establishes credit in the consumer 's name is not liable for any of the debts incurred by the identity thief . 
the maximum amount i think is $ 50 , and that is even waived by the credit card companies if it is proved to be fraudulent . 
bankruptcy relief is , therefore , not necessary in regard to identity theft . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
