She wasn't absent so she "couldn't be accused by either side". She was absent because she was in the hospital with her husband who was undergoing heart surgury.
Her statement at the time makes it clear that she would have voted against it.
Speaker: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY)
Title: Statement of Senator Clinton on the Bankruptcy Bill
Date: 2005-03-10
Location: Washington, DC
Speech
Statement of Senator Clinton on the Bankruptcy Bill
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton issued the following statement in response to the passage in the Senate of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005:
"Our bankruptcy law was created out of recognition that the world is a competitive, unforgiving place, and sometimes bad things happen to decent, hardworking people. Our bankruptcy code has always recognized that America is stronger when, rather than burying responsible citizens in insurmountable piles of debt, we give them the opportunity for a fresh start, and allow them a second chance to be contributing members of our economy. Unfortunately, this bankruptcy bill places a thumb on the scales of justice against Americans who have done nothing wrong and who are simply the victims of a difficult economy or bad luck.
Nowhere is this bill more flawed than in its failure to recognize the devastating and growing problem of medical bankruptcy. I was unable to cast my vote on this bill because of a medical situation in my own family. For me, this makes the Senate's failure to recognize the crisis of medical bankruptcy even more striking. Fortunately, my family is well-insured, and we are not in danger of losing that coverage. I am deeply aware and profoundly grateful for the good fortune we enjoy in having access to quality medical care in the face of significant medical needs. But many American families are not so lucky.
I have long been concerned about the burdens placed on America's families by a lack of health insurance and by rising healthcare costs. In this bill, the Senate had an opportunity to take one important step to help citizens driven to the point of bankruptcy by unavoidable medical problems. Instead, the Senate rejected this opportunity to lighten the load on Americans dealing with the twin blows of medical and financial difficulties.
This legislation also fails to take into account the significant changes that have taken place in our national economy and in the lives of millions of American families since the Senate last considered it in 2001. Job loss, stagnant wages, cancelled pension plans and declining health benefits have plagued our country over the past four years and this bill simply doesn't keep up with the changing times. While many in the Democratic minority tried to offer amendments to address many of these changed circumstances, each one was rejected by the Republican majority. The fact that the majority refused to even address the needs of our troops in the context of this legislation is deeply disturbing.
Offering the amendments was the right thing to do, rejecting them out of hand was simply wrong. These amendments were not about removing personal responsibility, but about being fair and just. This legislation is anything but fair or just.
I believe that this legislation, with more careful and good-faith consideration, could have been a vehicle in which we could have thoughtfully addressed abuses in the bankruptcy process by consumers and corporations. It could have been a step forward to make sure that both large corporations and individual citizens are held to the same standards of responsibility and accountability. Unfortunately, it's not where this bill ended up. And that's a shame for all of us who want to see a bankruptcy system that promotes personal responsibility and upholds our American value of pulling one's self up by the bootstraps.
http://clinton.senate.gov/...
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