Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's list of legislative priorities for the summer (and balance of the 2d session) is notable for the absence of H.R. 975, the House-passed bankruptcy bill. While this does not mean the bill won't be considered before the targeted October adjournment sine die, it does reflect the fact that the leadership acknowledges the difficulty in moving the bill during this election cycle. Major bankruptcy bills have historically moved, if at all, late in the legislative session.

EOUST Anti-fraud Initiatives to Be Completed by Fiscal Year End

Executive Office for U.S. Trustees (EOUST) Director Lawrence A. Friedman identified fraud-fighting initiatives during his March testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, several of which will be fully completed by the end of the fiscal year in October. The first is a debtor audit pilot project to review about 64,000 chapter 7 consumer cases, with the assistance of six CPA and forensic accounting firms. Random audits of consumer cases are included in the bankruptcy bill reform package. The EOUST project marks the first time that independent firms have been retained to conduct these reviews. The second project is an automated Criminal Enforcement Tracking System to track fraud allegations and referrals made to law enforcement authorities. The EOUST also plans to have a central repository of all data to identify nationwide trends in serial filers, as well as other potential civil and criminal abuses at the national and local levels.

---