Bankruptcy Reform About to Pass (...apparently they mean it this time)

This is a paraphrase of a message forwarded by Bankruptcy Committee Member and stand-up guy Tony Mankus about the pending Bankruptcy Reform Act.

SEE: http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/advocacy/index.html

Ninety (90) law professors form across the country have analyzed the legislation and asked that it be rejected.

A Harvard University study shows 1/2 of all personal Bankruptcies filed in 2001 resulted from inability to pay medical bills. This legislation does nothing to help these Americans. See the study at www.getsickgobroke.org

Seventeen Hundred (1700) American Physicians signed a letter opposing the legislation: SEE: http://nacba.org/maxdocs/S._256_Release_FINAL.pdf

Take the following actions now:

(1) Call or email your two (2) United States Senators now. Senator Boxer is already voting no, but needs support. Senator Feinstein is wavering and considered a key target for our lobbying effort. It is too late to do this by mail. You can find your Senators by clicking on the following link: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/. Once there, call and/or email your Senators to alert them of your concerns. If making a phone call (as opposed to sending an email message), ask to speak to the staff person handling the bankruptcy bill. Here is one way you may want to frame your argument:

S. 256, the Bankruptcy bill, soon will be considered on the Senate floor. I urge Senator (last name) to vote against the bill. It is not fair, it is not balanced and it needs to be defeated. Overwhelmingly, American families file for bankruptcy because they have been driven there -largely by medical and economic catastrophe - not because they want to go there. The bill should respect that harsh reality and the families who face it. Instead, the bill assumes everyone is in bankruptcy for the same reason - too much unnecessary spending. It doesn't take into account the circumstances of those who face overwhelming medical debts, those who have lost their jobs, those whose breadwinners have been called to active military duty, those who are caring for elderly parents or those caring for sick children. I can tell you from my own experience representing debtors that bankruptcy most often is the last resort. At the very minimum, we hope the Senator will vote for amendments that will inject some fairness and balance to the bill. If those amendments are defeated, I hope the Senator will vote "NO" on the bill.

(2) Generate at least 20 emails opposing the bill to the Senators from your State. hese can come from Cients, colleagues, family or friends. See the text above as an example.

(3) Generate at least 10 phone calls to your senators in opposition to the bill. You can find their phone number by looking them up in the link above, or call the Capitol switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask for your Senators' offices.

(4) Have someone in your office spend a full day calling clients. Ask Clients to call or email their Senators in opposition to the bill. Have the Senator's phone numbers and email addresses available to give them. Ask them to call their Senators immediately to protect the rights of people like them to seek Bankruptcy protection.

(5) Get at least 2 of your current or former clients with overwhelming medical expenses to go to www.getsickgobroke.org and share their stories and learn about how to contact their Senators. We will use their stories (without using names) in an effort to demonstrate how S. 256 is unfair.

(6) Commit to sending NACBA the contact information for at least one compelling current or former client who is willing to be interviewed by the news media. It can be someone with medical debt, someone who has been unemployed, someone who tried to make arrangements with a credit company to pay at least a portion of what was owed by was rebuffed. It should be someone you can personally identify as one with a compelling story who can be articulate in describing their situation. NACBA Executive Director Maureen Thompson is collecting these debtor profiles and contact information. Please send them to her at maureent@nacba.org.

(7) The banks and credit card companies have spent tens of millions of dollars paying for this legislation. Money is needed to tell our lawmakers the truth. The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) is the only organization which solely represents the interests of attorneys representing consumer debtors. Go to www.nacba.org and contribute financially to NACBA's efforts. Is it not worth the amount you earn in just one bankruptcy case to help defeat this legislation? If you are not a member of NACBA - you should be. Join now! www.nacba.org

If I can offer assistance in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Bradford W. Botes, President National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys