Pelosi: Bankruptcy Provision A "High Priority"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said enacting a bankruptcy provision to help struggling homeowners modify their mortgages is a "very high priority" and wants to pass a bill soon. But the California Democrat indicated the $825 billion economic stimulus bill may be moving too fast to insert a bankruptcy provision. The House is expected to vote on the massive bill next week. "We have a housing bill. We will have other legislation, or a free standing bill, but we will get it done," Ms. Pelosi said at a press conference. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, several Democratic members spoke in favor of attaching a bankruptcy bill to the economic stimulus package. However, the Obama administration wants to include a bankruptcy provision in a housing bill that will provide foreclosure relief. The mortgage industry continues to oppose a broad bankruptcy bill that would allow judges to reduce or cram down the principal amount of a mortgage.