Hatch is one of the leaders of the Republican effort to enact a "means test" and make it harder for individuals to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection from creditors. The test would determine if filers have the financial ability to repay some of their debts, rather than erasing outstanding bills upon forfeiture of some of their assets.

If filers are deemed financially capable of paying back some of their debt under the new means test, they would not get the "fresh start" provided by Chapter 7 and would instead be pushed into Chapter 13 bankruptcy and a court-administered repayment plan.

The bill could have wide-ranging impacts on residents of Utah, where bankruptcy filings per household lead the nation. In the fiscal year that ended in June, 21,312 Utah residents filed for bankruptcy, with a majority of 14,747 seeking Chapter 7 protection.

On Tuesday, the Administration Office of the U.S. Courts announced that nationwide, bankruptcy filings dropped 3.8 percent from 2003 to 2004, but still totaled 1.6 million last year.

Kennedy is marshalling Democratic opposition to the bill, contending it is a sweetheart deal for credit card companies and will unfairly punish people who are forced into bankruptcy through circumstances beyond their control, such as catastrophic medical bills.

"This bill does everything the mind of the purveyors of predatory plastic could think up to make their cardholders pay in full, and prevent them from getting the fresh start that bankruptcy offers them," Kennedy said during floor debate. "Its purpose is to keep the credit card payments rolling in, and prevent that money from being used to feed their children or pay their hospital bills or make their mortgage payments."

But Hatch charged that Kennedy's claim that only Democrats care for poor people is "not only a joke, it's a sad joke at that."

"He knows he can't accuse me of not having passion for the poor," said Hatch, a cosponsor of the bill that is supported by all of Utah's congressional delegation. "I've worked my guts out to try to get a compromise here that will help the poor."

Democrats plan to try to insert dozens of amendments exempting certain groups of people from the new means test as the bill is debated prior to a vote.