A bill that would have made it harder for consumers to declare bankruptcy passed out of the House after a key clause was deleted, but was declared dead in the Senate by Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD).
The bill, HR 333, was written to make it harder for consumers to enter into bankruptcy, thereby allowing credit card issuers and other creditors better access to their assets. It was sponsored by Rep. George W. Gekas (R-PA) and championed by the financial services industry. The bill’s passage would have reduced the risk for credit card companies when soliciting less-creditworthy consumers.
But the bill was opposed by other House Republicans, who felt that it would quell the right to protest among anti-abortion activists. In the past, activists have used bankruptcy protection to avoid paying fines that result from their protests. An earlier markup had included language specifically prohibiting protestors from using bankruptcy protection to avoid paying fines.
One version of the bill was voted down on Thursday. The bill that went to the Senate was passed early Friday morning, after the abortion-protest language had been struck from it. Congressional observers acknowledged that the Democrat-controlled Senate would not pass the bill without the protest clause.
The Democrats will lose control of the Senate either at the start of the next Congress in 2003, or when Senator-elect Jim Talent (R-MO) is seated.
Spokespeople at credit card issuers Capital One, Providian and Citibank had no comment on how the new legislation would affect their marketing plans.
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