Bankruptcy destined for lame ducks, NAFCU expects

WASHINGTON – As Congress was trying to wrap up its business by the end of last week in an attempt to get home in time for the November 5 elections, bankruptcy will most likely be reserved for a session after the elections, according to Brad Thaler, NAFCU’s director of legislative and political affairs. Senate majority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) has said that he sees the bankruptcy reform bill on a lame duck congressional agenda, Thaler, said, and he has indicated that he expects the House to move on the bill first. In the House, the measure faces opposition from pro-life members who, Thaler said, would otherwise be open to supporting it but have objected to language in the bill dealing with abortion clinic violence. The House leadership does not want to bring the bill up before the election, Thaler said, because they don’t want to alienate the pro-life parts of their base. He expected that the leadership would be more likely to bring up the bill after the election, when members would have two years to “repair the relationship” with any alienated pro-life voters, he added.