911

The number will never again have the same meaning for any of us. 911. Once only
a telephone number, easily memorized. Now a date, all too difficult to forget. Never
in the history of this nation—in the history of <i>any</i> nation—have so many innocent lives
been snuffed out by such a single cold act of cruelty.

</p><p>The initial impact of this horrible act of terror was played out on television screens
across the globe, followed all too quickly by the horrific collapse of the towers,
again captured by TV cameras. But now there are clouds of consequence that have
come rolling out of this catastrophe, like the frightening volcanic clouds that tore
down the streets of lower Manhattan when the buildings collapsed. Some of those
consequences have received wide play in the media. We have cried before our television
sets at the heart-rending sight of a small boy at a prayer service holding a picture
of his father in his fireman's suit, one of the heroes who, in trying to save
lives, lost his own. We have weeped at tales of children who were never picked up
at their day care centers because their mothers or fathers never came home from the
office, and never would.

</p><p>But as the clouds of consequences continue to roll, we may not see all the stories
of pain and loss that this crime against humanity has caused and will continue to
cause, for months at least and perhaps for years. Every airline in the nation—even
the ones that thought they might have a profit this year—will endure a huge loss in
revenue and ridership. Bad news for stockholders, bad news for managers sweating their
future with the company. Far worse news for the more than 100,000 employees who
now are thrust off their jobs and into a sagging economy that doesn't have the strength
right now to generate new jobs for these people. Some will at least receive severance
packages (though some will not, unfortunately).

</p><p>The statistics have already been reported in the news. We who do bankruptcy,
however, know all too well the pain and loss behind that statistic. How will the
mortgage get paid next month? And if it can't be paid, what then? No home, just
in time for the holidays? Needless to say, the credit card bills will pile up,
unpaid (and suddenly mushroom thanks to a combination of high interest rates, late
charges and the dark magic of compounding). Savings will shrink or disappear. Those
whose nest eggs were in the stock market have already seen that resource dry up and
blow away.

</p><p>If only it were just the airline employees. If only it were just 100,000
jobs. An employee of a rental car agency told me the other day that he said goodbye
to 10 of his friends who were laid off at his airport office alone. Hotels and
restaurants are suffering too—as are the low-paid employees that such services routinely
hire. When low-paid people get laid off, their options are even more bleak. Will
they <i>all</i> be able to get new low-wage jobs at Wal-Mart? I doubt it—especially
because, as consumer confidence lags, so does consumer spending. And that hurts
Wal-Mart and other retail stores.

</p><blockquote><blockquote>
<hr>
<big><i></i><center>
<i>We</i> are <i>rescue workers. We use our skill, our
patience, our wisdom and sometimes even our courage
to put people back on their feet, companies back in
business and assets back to work to create jobs.
</i></center><i></i></big>
<hr>
</blockquote></blockquote>

<p>It's going to be rough out there for quite some time. Recent record bankruptcy
filings are likely to be but a prelude to a storm tide of new bankruptcy cases at
all levels—from consumers trying to save their homes to companies trying to find a way
to survive until the economy comes back. Call 911.

</p><p>Chilling, isn't it? The flip phrase, the reaction to crisis, is no longer flip.
It's grim. It's haunting. But I am not being flip. Far from it. I am
putting out the clarion call. For we too are rescue workers.

</p><p>I will not dare to suggest that what we do comes even close to the extraordinary
sacrifice that firefighters and policemen made on that fateful day. I know some
firefighters. I know that they know that whenever they are called to an emergency they
face death, yet they answer the call anyway. None of us, when we are called to do
our duty, will be called upon to make such a sacrifice.

</p><p>But make no mistake about it. We <i>are</i> rescue workers. We use our skill, our
patience, our wisdom and sometimes even our courage to put people back on their feet,
companies back in business and assets back to work to create jobs. Some of us are
lawyers and accountants and turnaround managers, whose task it will be to look just a
little beyond the short-term advantage toward a longer-term goal that helps not only
our own clients but also heals a problem and so aids the nation's health. Some of us
are judges, whose task it will be to be wise and patient—and to resist at all costs
the sin of self-importance. Some of us are members of Congress, whose task it will
be to look beyond personal political advantage and partisan politics and, yes, refuse
to be seduced by the songs of special interests. Members of Congress, especially, will
need to be wise in the choices that they make when it comes to bankruptcy reform,
because in these terrible times, the wrong move could hurt a lot of people who have
already been deeply hurt directly or indirectly by terrorists from abroad.

</p><p>Some years ago, we enacted significant welfare reform laws, designed to shift much
of the responsibility for dealing with poverty to the states. Some states have picked
up the gauntlet, often at some considerable cost, and have systems in place to help
those who may be thrust on hard times. Some states have not, choosing instead to
put their money elsewhere, leaving the poor to fend for themselves. There has been
talk recently that private charities might pick up the slack, and many charities have
responded. But charities have millions to spend on problems that require billions to
solve. The result is that when the economy takes a hit, the victims are forced to
fall back on other backstops—or end up living in their cars. For better or for
worse, one of those important backstops is our bankruptcy system. It allows us to
spread out catastrophic loss throughout the system. When extraordinary events inflict
those losses, it makes no sense to "blame" the loss on the victims in an effort to
avoid having to share the cost of the loss. Everyone needs to help shoulder the
burden, share the pain. Today, especially, this is no longer a question of
fairness, or equality. It is a question of national interest. All of us must be
more like the firefighters who helped people down the stairs of the World Trade
Center.

</p><p>Call it an act of patriotism—each of us doing our small part to heal our nation
to help us get back on our feet, refusing to be cowed into submission by cowardly
acts of terror. We are rescue workers for the victims of the economic catastrophe that
has been one of the bitter consequences of the terrorists' crimes. We do our part.