II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1647 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to provide relief to victims of 

Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2005 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. BAYH, Mrs. CLINTON, Ms. CANTWELL, 

Mr. AKAKA, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. HARKIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. 

CORZINE, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 11, United States Code, to provide relief 

to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hurricane Katrina 

5 Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 

6 2005’’. 
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•S 1647 IS

1 SEC. 2. BANKRUPTCY RELIEF FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE 

2 KATRINA. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, the provisions of title 11, United States Code, 

5 as in effect on August 29, 2005, shall apply to any case 

6 described in subsection (b). 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A case described in this subsection 

8 is a case commenced during the 12-month period begin9 ning on the effective date of the Bankruptcy Abuse Pre10 vention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, under title 

11 11, United States Code (other than under chapter 12 of 

12 that title 11), by or on behalf of a debtor— 

13 (1) who resides, or who resided on August 29, 

14 2005, in any area that is subject to a declaration by 

15 the President of a major disaster, as defined under 

16 section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

17 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) in 

18 connection with Hurricane Katrina; and 

19 (2) whose financial condition is materially ad20 versely affected by the major disaster. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS; WHO MAY BE A DEBTOR. 

22 (a) CURRENT MONTHLY INCOME.—Section 

23 101(10A)(B) of title 11, United States Code, is amend24 ed— 

25 (1) by striking ‘‘and payments’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘payments’’; and 
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1 (2) by inserting before the period at the end ‘‘, 

2 and payments to victims of a natural disaster, on ac3 count of their status as victims of a natural dis4 aster’’. 

5 (b) NATURAL DISASTER; NATURAL DISASTER

6 ZONE.—Section 101 of title 11, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (40A) and 

9 (40B) as paragraphs (40C) and (40D), respectively; 

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (40) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(40A) The term ‘natural disaster’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) a major disaster, as defined in section 

15 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

16 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5122); or 

18 ‘‘(B) a situation similar to such a major 

19 disaster (as so defined), with respect to which 

20 a determination is made in accordance with 

21 State law that such situation exists. 

22 ‘‘(40B) The term ‘natural disaster zone’ means 

23 the geographical area included in the determination 

24 of a natural disaster.’’. 
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1 (c) VICTIM OF NATURAL DISASTER.—Section 101 of 

2 title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following: 

4 ‘‘(56) The term ‘victim of a natural disaster’ 

5 means a person— 

6 ‘‘(A) whose financial condition is materi7 ally adversely affected by a natural disaster; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) whose domicile, residence, or prin10 cipal place of business in the United States, or 

11 whose principal assets in the United States, 

12 were located in a natural disaster zone imme13 diately preceding the event that caused the nat14 ural disaster.’’. 

15 (d) WHO MAY BE A DEBTOR.—Section 109(h)(4) of 

16 title 11, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

17 ‘‘natural disaster,’’ after ‘‘disability,’’. 

18 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 3. 

19 Section 362(b)(22) of title 11, United States Code, 

20 is amended by inserting ‘‘(excluding a debtor who is a vic21 tim of a natural disaster)’’ after ‘‘debtor’’ the first place 

22 that term appears. 

23 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 5. 

24 Section 521 of title 11, United States Code, is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(k) The Court may extend any time period specified 

2 in this section as may be necessary if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the debtor is a victim of a natural disaster; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(2) the debtor’s status as a victim of a natural 

6 disaster necessitates such extension of time.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 7. 

8 (a) DEBTOR’S MONTHLY EXPENSES.—Section 

9 707(b)(2)(A)(ii) of title 11, United States Code, is amend10 ed by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(IV) In addition, the debtor’s monthly expenses may 

12 include the actual reasonably necessary expenses incurred 

13 as a result of being a victim of a natural disaster.’’. 

14 (b) LIMITATION ON CONVERSION OF CASE.—Section 

15 707(b)(2) of title 11, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(E) Subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) shall not 

18 apply, and the court may not dismiss or convert a case 

19 under this subsection, if the debtor is a victim of a natural 

20 disaster.’’. 

21 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 11. 

22 (a) CONVERSION OF CASE.—Section 1112(b) of title 

23 11, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by inserting ‘‘, in25 cluding a natural disaster’’ before the semicolon; and 
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1 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘(including a 

2 natural disaster)’’ after ‘‘circumstances’’. 

3 (b) WHO MAY FILE A PLAN.—Section 1121(e)(3) of 

4 title 11, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ 

6 after ‘‘(A)’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

9 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

10 (C) as clauses (ii) and (iii), respectively; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(B) the debtor is unable to meet the 

13 deadline because of a natural disaster.’’. 

14 (c) EXTENSION OF TIME FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.— 

15 Chapter 11 of title 11, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in the table of sections, by adding at the 

17 end the following: 

‘‘§ 1117. Extension of time for small businesses’’; 

18 and 

19 (2) in subchapter I, by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘§ 1117. Extension of time for small businesses 

22 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, in 

23 a small business case, the court may extend any deadline 

24 specified in this chapter if the court finds that such exten25 sion is— 
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1 ‘‘(1) necessary to protect the best interests of 

2 the creditors and the estate; or 

3 ‘‘(2) warranted by a natural disaster.’’. 

4 SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 13. 

5 (a) CONVERSION OR DISMISSAL.—Section 1307(e) of 

6 title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘The Court may extend any time period specified in this 

9 subsection as may be necessary if— 

10 ‘‘(1) the debtor is a victim of a natural disaster; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(2) the debtor’s status as a victim of a natural 

13 disaster necessitates such extension of time.’’. 

14 (b) FILING OF PREPETITION TAX RETURNS.—Sec15 tion 1308 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) The Court may extend any time period specified 

18 in this subsection as may be necessary if— 

19 ‘‘(1) the debtor is a victim of a natural disaster; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(2) the debtor’s status as a victim of a natural 

22 disaster necessitates such extension of time.’’. 

23 SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE. 

24 Section 1408 of title 28, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘Except’’, and 

2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) If a case under title 11 cannot be commenced 

4 in a district court described in subsection (a) because a 

5 person is the victim of a natural disaster (as defined in 

6 section 101 of title 11), then a case under title 11 may 

7 be commenced by such person in the district court for the 

8 district in which such person resides.’’. 

9 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

10 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend11 ments made by this Act shall take effect on October 18, 

12 2005. 

13 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend14 ments made by this Act shall apply only with respect to 

15 cases commenced under title 11 of the United States Code 

16 on and after October 17, 2005. 

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