Recession latest setback for bankruptcy reform bills.

The chairman of the House-Senate conference committee on bankruptcy reform hopes to negotiate an agreement on the legislation when Congress returns to Washington after Thanksgiving.

"We'll see," says Rep. John Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., whose panel finally held its first meeting Nov. 14 -- eight months after the House and Senate passed different versions of the legislation. Both bills target abuse of the bankruptcy system by requiring debtors to repay at least some of their debt if they have the means to do so.

The conference committee was scheduled to start hashing out the differences in the two bills on Sept. 12. But that meeting was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks …