WASHINGTON Chairman Orrin G. Hatch said Thursday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin voting on bankruptcy overhaul legislation as early as next Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had said that the bill might be sent directly to the Senate for a vote as early as Monday, but Sen. Hatch said after leaving a hearing on the legislation that normal procedure will be followed.
He said that he hopes the legislation will go to the Senate relatively quickly but that a date has not been set.
Democratic committee members are expected to offer several amendments, including some that would require credit card companies to provide more elaborate consumer disclosures and another to prevent abortion-clinic attackers and perhaps other activists, such as animal-rights advocates from using bankruptcy laws to avoid paying court-ordered damages.
The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled votes on the bill for next Wednesday and Thursday.
Depending on how banking concerns are addressed in the bill that comes out of Senate Judiciary, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm will consider taking up the bill in his panel, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.
