WASHINGTON-House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) suggested to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), his Senate counterpart, that in the interest of time, the two bodies informally discuss the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bankruptcy reform legislation. More than four years of negotiations have gone into the bills. Sensenbrenner acknowledged that while a lot of progress has been made in drafting the legislation, differences remain in the two bills. In a letter to Leahy, he wrote, "To facilitate this process of reconciliation, I propose that the staff of our respective committees forthwith begin the process of informally resolving these differences to the extent they can as soon as possible." The key differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill are the levels of homestead exemption for bankruptcy filers and the Senate's exempting clinic violence perpetrators from bankruptcy protection. "Given the enormous impact this legislation will have on the current bankruptcy system, I believe it is imperative that the conference report be precisely drafted to clearly reflect legislative intent without ambiguity or technical error," Sensenbrenner's letter continued. Senate conferees were named last week, while the House is expected to name conferees shortly. Hill lobbyists feel certain that credit union interests will be protected in the conference. The credit union-backed portions of the bill include the means test, mandatory financial education, and voluntary reaffirmations.