2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 15, 2005 NATION/WORLD House passes bankruptcy reform NEws INrBRIEF f f' , .. } r.3 WASHINGTON (AP) - Tens of thousands of people who want to wipe out their debts in bankruptcy court would have to work out repayment plans instead under legislation Congress approved yesterday. A 302-126 vote by the House sent the legislation to President Bush, who is eager to sign the biggest rewrite of the bankruptcy code in a quarter-century. It marks the second major change in law to benefit business since Republicans increased their House and Senate majori- ties in last fall's elections. Debate in the House was acrimonious as Democratic opponents warned that the measure would hurt the eco- nomically vulnerable. After eight years of strenuous efforts by congres- sional backers, banks and credit card companies, the legislation was catapulted toward enactment starting earlier this year. The legislation, which garnered some Democratic votes, cleared the Senate last month on a 74-25 vote. The measure would require people with incomes above a certain level to pay credit-card charges, medi- cal bills and other obligations under a court-ordered bankruptcy plan. Opponents say the change would fall especially hard on low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face crushing medical bills. The legislation "protects the credit industry at the expense of the consumer," Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) declared in House debate. "It will drive more Ameri- cans deeper into financial crisis and weaken the nation's economy and social structure." But backers in Congress and the financial services industry argue that bankruptcy frequently is the last refuge of gamblers, impulsive shoppers, divorced or separated fathers avoiding child support, and multi- millionaires - often celebrities - who buy mansions in states with liberal homestead exemptions to shelter assets from creditors. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) said the legislation would save American families an average $400 a year in higher interest rates now charged to consumers to recoup losses from those who abuse bankruptcy pro- ceedings. In a bitter scene on the House floor, Democrats - most of whom opposed the legislation - used an array of parliamentary maneuvers to delay the final vote, forcing an unsuccessful roll call vote on adjourning the session and lining up one by one to register their objec- tions in brief, biting statements. Democrats were furious that the GOP leadership allowed none of the 35 amendments they had proposed earlier to be voted on. They particularly wanted pro- visions that would exempt from the new bankruptcy requirements military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and people whose indebtedness is the result of financial identity theft. Between 30,000 and 210,000 people - from 3.5 per- cent to 20 percent of those who dissolve their debts in bankruptcy each year in exchange for forfeiting some assets - would be disqualified from doing so under the legislation, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Taking effect six months from enactment, the mea- sure would set up an income-based test for measuring a debtor's ability to repay debts. Those with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which, if approved by a judge, erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. Those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years - $100 a month - would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would then order a repay- ment plan. The legislation also would require people in bank- ruptcy to pay for credit counseling. Underscoring the issue's political sensitivity, the lib- eral group MoveOn was beginning a campaign of radio ads this week against House lawmakers of both parties who support the legislation. "We're going to call the Republican agenda what it truly is: a war on the middle class," said Tom Matzzie, the Washington director of MoveOn's political action committee. Car bombing kills 18 in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two car bombs ripped through a crowded street in front of the Interior Ministry in central Baghdad yesterday, killing 18 people and wounding three dozen others. Al-Qaida in Iraq said it carried out the attack, the bloodiest in more than a month. In a statement posted on the Internet, the group, headed by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zargawi, said the attack targeted a patrol outside the office of Interior Minister Falah al-Nagib, who is in charge of the nation's police. The claim could not be independently verified. Al-Nagib was in his office at the time of the explosions, but was not injured. He came out afterward to examine the scorched road and blackened rubble left by the blast. The ministry building, built by Saddam Hussein's government to sur- vive major attacks, was not damaged. Meanwhile, a new video broadcast on al-Jazeera television showed a man who identified himself as a Pakistani diplomat kidnapped last weekend in Baghdad. The Arab satellite station said the man, who was wearing a white skull cap, urged the Pakistani government and international community to intervene and secure his release. The station said the kidnappers, identified as being from the previously unknown group Amuriya Brigade, made no demands for his release. Malik Mohammed Javed, deputy charge d'affaires at the Pakistani mis- sion in Baghdad, was last seen Saturday leaving his home for prayers at a mosque. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry earlier said the Omar bin Khattab group claimed responsibility and demanded money for his release. The video broadcast yester- day couldn't be independently verified and the discrepancy between the groups' names couldn't be explained. The death toll from yesterday's car bombs was the highest from an explosion since March 10, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shiite mosque dur- ing a funeral, killing 47 people. The force of yesterday's attack threw people to the ground and sent thick black smoke billowing over the city. Ali Ahmed, 28, said he was selling ice cream when he heard an explosion, fol- lowed by gunfire and another explosion. "My stall was partially destroyed because of this terrorist act," he said. "Some people have lost their lives. As for me, I have now lost my source of income." Abdullah Hussein Zamel was clean- ing tables at a restaurant near the heavily fortified Green Zone when the blast shat- tered the windows. "I went outside and saw dead and injured people," he, said. "After .that, I heard police open heavy fire on a second car." Panicked students from a nearby sec- ondary school and university gathered in the street, some weeping. WASHINGTON FBI was slow to act on Nichols tip The FBI initially dismissed a tip that convicted bomber Terry Nichols had hid- den explosives and they might be used for an attack this month coinciding with the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. While the FBI has found no evidence supporting the idea that an attack is in the works for the April 19 tenth anniversary, the information that explo- sives had been hidden in Nichols's former home in Herington, Kan., turned out to be true. The tip came from imprisoned mobster Gregory Scarpa, 53, a law enforce- ment official said this week. Scarps is an inmate in the same maximum-secu- rity federal prison in Florence, Colo., where Nichols is serving life sentences for his role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah federal building that killed 168 people. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of federal conspiracy and murder charges in the bombing and executed in 2001. Scarpa learned about the explosives from Nichols, mainly through notes passed between them, said Stephen Dresch, a Michigan man who is Scarpa's informal advocate. NEW YORK Four indicted for oil-for-food corruption Four more people were charged yesterday in the scandal surrounding the U.N. oil-for-food program, including a Texas oil executive and a South Korean business- man who was at the center of a 1970s corruption case involving Congress. The indictment also suggested that money skimmed from the oil program might have ended up in the hands of two U.N. officials. Their names were not released. The oil-for-food program was created in 1996 to help Iraqis cope with a U.N. embargo imposed on Saddam Hussein's regime. The program let Saddam's govern- ment sell oil, provided the proceeds were used to buy food and medicine for Iraqis. But authorities allege that the program was rife with corruption. U.S. Attorney David Kelley called the new charges "two more pieces in the oil- for-food puzzle" and said the investigation is not over. "We're going to wring the towel dry," he said. One of the indictments announced yesterday charges a Texas oil company owner and two oil traders with paying millions in secret kickbacks to Saddam's regime to secure oil deals, thus cheating the program out of money for humani- tarian aid. UIGE, Angola Virus outbreak forces extreme precautions Fearful of a deadly virus that has killed at least 210 people, inhabitants of this northern Angolan town have given up their tradition of greeting friends and acquaintances with a hug. Instead, they tap right legs - avoiding all skin contact - a new custom devised to help check the spread of the Marburg virus, which is passed by contact with bodily fluids and has no known cure. An elderly woman visiting Uige's main market yesterday, where there was plenty of produce but few shoppers, said she had little hope of surviving the outbreak. "We don't know if (the virus) was sent by God or the devil, but we're help- less either way," she told The Associated Press, conveying the deep sense of dread here. CAIRO, Egypt Motorcycle bomber destroys bazaar An explosion apparently set off by a bomber on a motorcycle hit a tour group shopping in a historic bazaar yesterday, killing at least two people and wounding 20 - the first attack targeting foreign tourists in the Egyptian capital in more than seven years. The dead included a French woman, and 1'1 Egyptians and nine foreigners were wounded, said Brig. Gen. Nabil al-Azabi, head of security in Cairo. He said the second person killed may have been the bomber. Many of the wounded had severe wounds from nails packed in the bomb, doc- tors said. Among the wounded foreigners-were three-A4pe4icans, four-Freachrand a Turk, the Interior Ministry said. - Compiled from Daily wire reports www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745.967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $17.0. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109- 1327. E-mail letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. 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