310
Breyer, J., dissenting
bankrupt licensee is unable to fulfill other conditions of its license, the regulator may cancel the licenses for reasons that are not covered by § 525(a).2 Moreover, given the fact that the Commission has a secured interest in the license, if the licensee can obtain the financing that will enable it to perform its obligations in full, the debt will ultimately be paid. In sum, even though I agree with Justice Breyer's view that the literal text of a statute is not always a sufficient basis for determining the actual intent of Congress, in these cases I believe it does produce the correct answer.
Justice Breyer, dissenting.
The statute before us says that the Government may not revoke a license it has granted to a person who has entered bankruptcy "solely because [the bankruptcy debtor] . . . has not paid a debt that is dischargeable in [bankruptcy]." 11 U. S. C. § 525(a) (emphasis added). The question is whether the italicized words apply when a government creditor, having taken a security interest in a license sold on an installment plan, revokes the license not because the debtor has gone bankrupt, but simply because the debtor has failed to pay an installment as promised. The majority answers this question in the affirmative. It says that the italicized words mean
"nothing more or less than that the failure to pay a dischargeable debt must alone be the proximate cause of the cancellation—the act or event that triggers the agency's decision to cancel, whatever the agency's ultimate motive . . . may be." Ante, at 301-302 (emphasis added).
Hence, if the debt is a dischargeable debt (as virtually all debts are), then once a debtor enters bankruptcy, the Gov-2 The Senate Report explained that § 525(a) "does not prohibit consideration of other factors, such as future financial responsibility or ability, and does not prohibit imposition of requirements such as net capital rules, if applied nondiscriminatorily." S. Rep. No. 95-989, p. 81 (1978).
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