mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. speaker , i rise today to oppose this closed rule and s. 256 . 
once again , the majority has squelched debate on a controversial piece of legislation for no legitimate reason . 
more than 35 democratic amendments were offered in the rules committee yesterday . 
yet none have been made in order . 
why ? 
there is no reason for limiting the debate in this manner . 
the house came into session on tuesday and members will leave town later this afternoon after just 2 days of work . 
even more , there was only one other bill of substance before the house this week . 
the time to debate this bill and its offered amendments is available . 
the willingness to conduct meaningful business , however , is the missing ingredient . 
a 1-hour debate on legislation containing such sweeping reforms is not the way to conduct the people 's business . 
the argument will be made that this has been 9 years in the making . 
but a lot of this measure has been overcome by time , and that will be discussed by others later . 
i am particularly disappointed that an amendment i offered is not being allowed to come before this body for consideration . 
my amendment seeks to prevent the very bankruptcies that are causing this congress so much consternation and is germane to the discussion . 
it requires credit card companies to preserve a customer 's interest rate prior to incurring medical expenses if the customer is unable to pay off the full medical expenses on time . 
it also prohibits hospitals from reporting delinquent patients for 5 years , provided that the patient is paying 20 percent of his or her monthly mandated medical expenses . 
all the information we have available suggests that medical bills are the second leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the united states . 
it is , in my opinion , hypocritical to prevent debate on an amendment that could ameliorate some of the issues facing this bankruptcy reform legislation . 
is not the whole point of this bill to make bankruptcy less frequent ? 
if members of congress have ideas about how to accomplish that , should they not be heard ? 
many other members sought to introduce amendments , but have also been denied their opportunity to be heard . 
these amendments could have improved this legislation . 
for example , the gentleman from virginia ( mr. scott ) xz4003641 offered an amendment to exempt from the means test provision of debtors who have business losses incurred by a spouse who has died or deserted the debtor . 
the gentleman from california ( mr. filner ) xz4001330 offered an amendment that would exempt victims of identity theft . 
and the ranking member of the rules committee , the gentlewoman from new york ( ms. slaughter ) xz4003780 , offered an amendment that imposes restrictions on issuing credit cards to college students . 
but none of those amendments , or the 31 others , will be debated today because the rule on this bill is closed . 
at this point , mr. speaker , i will insert a list of all 35 amendments which the republican majority has blocked from being considered in the & lt ; /em & gt ; & lt ; em & gt ; congressional record . 
amendments submitted to the rules committee for s. 256 and denied consideration by the rule ( h. res. 211 ) 1 ) emanuel/delahunt/dingell -- prevents debtors from shielding their funds from bankruptcy liquidation through so-called `` asset protection trusts ; '' 2 ) filner -- exempts disabled veterans from the bill 's means test ; 3 ) filner -- exempts from the bill 's means test consumers who are victimized by identity theft ; 4 ) inslee -- exempts from the bill 's means test consumers whose debts are the result of serious medical problems ; 5 ) delahunt -- requires debtor corporations to file for bankruptcy where their principal place of business is located ; 6 ) sanders -- establishes a `` usury rate '' for credit card companies , above which credit card companies can not charge consumers ; 7 ) sanders -- caps fees credit card companies can impose on consumers at $ 15 ; 8 ) sanders -- prohibits credit card companies from changing interest rates based on changes in consumers ' credit information ; 9 ) sanders -- prohibits credit card companies from raising interest rates based on consumer credit reports ; 10 ) ruppersberger -- requires credit card solicitations to be accompanied by a brochure explaining the consequences of the irresponsible use of credit ; 11 ) schiff -- exempts from the bill 's means test consumers who are victimized by identity theft , if at least 51 % of the creditor claims against them are due to identity theft ; 12 ) lofgren -- exempts from the bill 's means test 1 ) families facing bankruptcy due to a serious medical hardship that drains at least 50 % of their yearly income , and 2 ) families who lose at least one month of needed pay or alimony due to illness ; 13 ) lofgren -- exempt from the bill 's means test a single parent who failed to receive child or spousal support totaling more than 50 % of her or his household income ; 14 ) scott ( va ) -- exempts from the bill 's means test provisions : 1 ) debtors who have business losses incurred by a spouse who has died or deserted the debtor 2 ) debtors who have had serious illness in their family and 3 ) debtors who have been laid off ; 15 ) scott ( va ) -- exempts from the bill 's means test provisions debtors who have business losses incurred by a spouse who has died or deserted the debtor ; 16 ) scott ( va ) -- exempts from the bill 's means test provisions debtors who have had serious illness in their family ; 17 ) scott ( va ) -- exempts from the bill 's means test provisions debtors who have been laid off from their jobs through no fault of their own ; 18 ) nadler -- sunsets the bill after 2 years ; 19 ) watt -- prohibits annual credit card rates higher than 75 % ; 20 ) watt -- includes the costs of college in the calculation of debtor 's monthly expense ; 21 ) ruppersberger -- exempts from the bill 's means test debtors who have declared bankruptcy due to high medical expenses ; 22 ) hastings ( fl ) -- prevents credit card companies from increasing rates on consumers who use their credit cards to pay for extraordinary medical expenses ; also prevents hospitals from generating negative credit information on consumers who are paying their bills in good faith ; 23 ) meehan -- exempts from the means test disabled veterans whose indebtedness occurred primarily as a result of an injury or disability resulting from active duty or homeland defense activities ; closes a loophole in s. 256 , which exempts only disabled veterans whose indebtedness occurs primarily while on active duty while failing to exempt disabled veterans whose indebtedness occurs after they have left active duty ; 24 ) jackson lee -- makes debts arising out of state sex offenses non-dischargeable in bankruptcy proceedings ; 25 ) jackson lee -- clarifies congress ' intent that nuclear liabilities be covered by the price-anderson act , and not by bankruptcy laws ; 26 ) jackson lee -- makes debts arising out of penalties imposed on businesses for false tobacco claims non-dischargeable ; 27 ) jackson lee -- strikes the bill 's means test provision ; 28 ) woolsey -- requires credit counseling agencies to provide free services to recent veterans of the military who served in combat zones ; 29 ) slaughter -- requires credit card companies to determine , before they approve a credit card , whether a student applicant has the financial means to pay off a credit card balance ; it restricts the credit limit to minimum balances if the student has no independent income ; and it requires parental approval for credit limit increases in the event that a parent cosigns the account ; 30 ) slaughter -- applies the highest median income of any county or metropolitan statistical area in the state to all residents of the state petitioning for bankruptcy protection ; 31 ) millender-mcdonald -- provides the bankruptcy courts a higher percentage of the fees collected when a debtor files for bankruptcy ; 32 ) maloney -- ensures that debtors emerging from bankruptcy make child credit payments first , before payments on credit card debt . 
the current version of the bill does not ensure that child support payments will have priority over the other types of unsecured debts , such as credit card debt ; 33 ) meehan and berman -- provides a modest homestead exemption for people who have suffered a major illness or injury ; 34 ) jackson lee -- provides additional protections to debtors who are the victims of identity theft ; 35 ) jackson lee -- increases the means test limit on parochial school tuition expenses from $ 1 , 500 to $ 3 , 000 , so that families chapter 13 bankruptcy can keep their children in schools that conform to their deeply held religious beliefs . 
mr. speaker , the house has adopted a new modus operandi . 
we saw it earlier this year with the class action bill , and we are seeing it again today . 
it seems that if the republican leadership deems legislation important , and that is their prerogative , it is willing to push through the other body 's version without the opportunity for debate here in the people 's house on any amendments . 
this new method does a great disservice to the people of this nation . 
even more , it stops members , democrats and republican , from serving as thoughtful , effective legislators . 
the house of representatives is the people 's house . 
the founding fathers envisioned a forum for lively debate on the issues of the day , not the controlled steering of selected legislation with no opportunity for meaningful change . 
what also concerns me is the unworkable means test contained in this legislation . 
i am greatly disturbed , as i know all the residents of south florida will be , that this means test includes disaster assistance as a source of revenue . 
people forced into dire financial circumstances through natural disasters should find bankruptcy a source of relief . 
considering disaster assistance as a source of revenue adds insult to injury and contradicts the government 's efforts to help people get back on their feet . 
this legislation , masquerading as protection against bankruptcy abuse , is really a protection for credit card companies and their predatory lending practices . 
this legislation does not protect the american people . 
this legislation protects the credit industry at the expense of the american people . 
increasingly , credit card companies market their product to riskier consumers , and now they want the congress to protect them from the losses that are the foreseeable result of this ill-sighted business strategy . 
why are we not debating legislation that would address those practices , instead of eviscerating a crucial safety net that americans rely on when all else fails ? 
mr. speaker , should it pass , this bill will severely curtail the ability of americans to obtain relief from bankruptcy without solving any of its underlying causes . 
medical bills , unemployment , and predatory lending practices are at the root of this problem . 
in the long run , the net effect of this legislation will drive more americans deeper into financial crisis and weaken our social structure and the nation 's economy . 
i will not , and can not , support such an attack on american consumers . 
i urge my colleagues to vote `` no '' on this closed rule and `` no '' on s. 256 . 
mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
