Senate hearing signals bankruptcy interest

WASHINGTON (12/2/08)—The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a field hearing Thursday on "Credit Cards and Bankruptcy: Opportunities for Reform."

The hearing will be conducted at Rhode Island College in Providence and will feature a panel of the following four witnesses:

• John Rao, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center;

• U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas Small, from the eastern district of North Carolina;

• Robert Lawless, a professor of law from the University of Illinois; and

• Associate Professor of Law John Chung, from Roger Williams University.

Ryan Donovan, vice president of legislative affairs for the Credit Union National Association, said the hearing can be viewed as a harbinger of things to come in the 111th U.S. Congress.

"We fully anticipate Congress will take a very close look at the bankruptcy code. While the focus of the bankruptcy discussion in Congress most recently has revolved around mortgage cramdown proposals, this hearing and others indicate there may be an appetite to go further in the new Congress," Donovan said.

In October the Judiciary panel conducted a two-part field hearing titled "Keeping Families in Their Home: How to Prevent Foreclosures" in Pennsylvania. Part I was held in Pittsburgh, Part II in Philadelphia.