class=Section1>
Nadler
Opposes
Joining of Bankruptcy
Bill, Violence
Against
Women Act
In a House
floor statement
yesterday,
Rep. Jerrold
Nadler
(D-N.Y.) strongly
criticized the
planned
linkage of the
Violence
Against Women
Act (VAWA)
to the
bankruptcy bill,
according to a
press
release from
Nadler’s
office.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
“Joining
these two
bills would
be a cynical
and
desperate ploy
to pass a
bill that
hurts women
and their
families,
consumers
and small
businesses,”
he
said.
He
continued
by calling
on the
Senate to
pass the
VAWA as a
stand-alone
bill.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
“You
cannot
make an
anti-woman
and
anti-family bill
like that
acceptable
by attaching
a popular
and
worthwhile measure
which should
easily
have passed
on its
own months
ago,” he
said.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
Nadler admitted
that the
proposed
Bankruptcy
Reform
legislation
has flaws,
but said
that Congress
should
continue to
debate them
in an
open and
honest format.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'>
class=MsoNormal>House
Passes
Domestic Violence
Plan
The House
yesterday
renewed the
Violence
Against
Women Act,
which passed
415-3,
after
President Clinton
accused
lawmakers
of treating
the measure
like a
political football,
according to
a newswire
report.
style='mso-spacerun:
yes'> Originally passed in 1994, the landmark measure is to
expire Saturday.
Senate Republicans
have floated
the idea
of attaching
the legislation
to a bill
that would
overhaul the
nation's
bankruptcy
laws. The
twinned
proposals
would then
be appended
to one of
the 11 appropriations
bills that
Congress
still must
enact to
keep the
government
in
operation.
style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>Regal
Cinemas
Consider Bankruptcy
Regal
Cinemas, like
many of the
theaters
these days,
is in
serious
trouble, according
to The
Wall Street
Journal.
Regal’s stumble
is startling
amid
the current
theater
crisis,
however, because
of the
financial muscle
of its two
owners:
buyout firms
Kohlberg
Kravis
Roberts &
Co. of New
York and
Hicks, Muse,
Tate
& Furst
of Dallas.
style='mso-spacerun: yes'> Instead of passing other national
movie chains
and
dominating the
market, each
firm
now has a
paper loss
of about
$500 million
on its
investment,
ranking
Regal among
the biggest
setbacks
in their
histories.
Regal, which
has amassed
$1.9 billion
in debt, has
brought
its
expansion to a
near halt
and plans
to open just
two new
theaters
next year.
style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>Chairman
and Chief
Executive
Michael
Campbell said
Regal would
“clearly
prefer” to
restructure
its debt
through voluntary
negotiations
with
its
creditors, rather
than enter
bankruptcy
proceedings.
A
chapter 11
filing now
could be
embarrassing
for KKR
and Hicks
Muse at
a time when
both firms
are raising
money
for new
buyout funds.
They
have raised
several
billion dollars
already, but
a restructuring
would force
the firms
to write
down their
investments
in Regal,
lowering
their recent
returns and
potentially
hampering
their ability
to raise
more money
class=MsoNormal>
