318
Breyer, J., dissenting
IV
The majority responds to my concerns in several ways. First, it characterizes the dissent in a slightly exaggerated manner, stating, for example, that I have "determine[d]" the statute's "purpose" in "splendid isolation from [its] language," that bankruptcy's "fresh start" objective "plays no real role in [my] analysis," and that that "criterion" is, in any event, "circular." Ante, at 305, and n. 4. I would refer the reader to Parts II and III above (which contain considerable discussion of statutory language and statutory history) and, in particular, to the discussion of Perez, a decision that relied upon the "fresh start" objective in a way that the statute seeks to codify and that my own suggested interpretation of the statute incorporates. In my view, the language of the statute taken as a whole—including its "insolvency" language, ante, at 305—strongly suggests that Congress intended bankruptcy to have something to do with the forbidden government action. See Appendix, infra.
Second, the majority argues that my interpretation makes the statute's "dischargeable debt" provision "superfluous," given language forbidding revocation because a person " 'is . . . a [bankruptcy] debtor.' " Ante, at 307 (emphasis deleted). I do not see how that is so. A refusal to issue, say, a new dry cleaner's license "solely because" a bankruptcy debtor once failed to pay for other dry cleaner's licenses (now discharged debts) is not necessarily the same as a refusal to issue a new license "solely because" the debtor "has been . . . a bankrupt," 11 U. S. C. § 525(a). And the statute's separate provisions simply cover this differentiated bankruptcy-related waterfront.
Third, the majority returns to the statutory language prohibiting a government from revoking a license "solely because [the bankrupt debtor] . . . has not paid a debt that is dischargeable," ibid. Ante, at 306-307. To my ear, this language suggests a possible connection between dischargeability and revocation. I have tried to test my linguistic
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