Date: 2012-05-16
Speaker: DAVID SCOTT (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Georgia

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. The National Flood Insurance Program plays a very. very key role in our Nations efforts to prevent and recover from flood disasters. Floods are now the number one natural disaster in the United States in terms of lives lost and property damaged. Now. here is exactly what the National Flood Insurance Program does: First. it identifies areas of flood risk. secondly. it encourages communities to implement measures to mitigate against the risk of flood loss. thirdly. it provides financial assistance to help individuals recover more rapidly from flooding disasters. and it lessens the financial impact of flood disasters on individuals. on businesses. and all levels of government. In recent years. a series of shortterm reauthorizations and temporary suspensions of the NFIP have eroded confidence in the program among our stakeholdersincluding State government. tribal governments. local communities. individual policyholders. mortgage lenders. and the private insurance industry. In addition to disrupting the programs daytoday operations. shortterm reauthorizations and temporary suspensionslike what were doing here in 30 dayscreates significant uncertainty regarding the Federal Governments longterm commitment to underwriting and indemnifying flood losses. So in the absence of such a commitment. our stakeholders are less likely to make the necessary investments that are needed to successfully sustain. strengthen. and grow the program. thereby undermining the programs effectiveness and efficiency over time. As my colleague. Mrs. BIGGERT. mentioned earlier. Congress last passed a bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program authorization on December 23. 20115 months agoas a part of the fullyear omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012. Even prior to this action. we in the House took decisive action to extend the flood insurance program the way it should be by approving a 5year flood insurance reform reauthorization bill last July that passed this House on a strongly bipartisan Republican and Democratic vote of 40622. Unfortunately. the National Flood Insurance Program is set now to expire May 31. just over 2 weeks from today. and guess what? June 1 also happens to mark the official start of the hurricane season in this country. This lets you know how we have got to put pressure on the Senate to act responsibly. Here we are attempting to pass a 30day extension just 2 weeks before the devastating hurricane season starts. Urgency is necessary here. This is why reauthorizing of the National Flood Insurance Program before it expires is essential to our Nations efforts to prevent and recover from flood disasters. So Im pleased that the bill that we have before us does extend the program for 30 days. but it is not a perfect bill. as I said. I believe that many in this Chamberjust about everybody in the House of Representativeswould prefer to see the Senate take up and pass our bill for the 5year extension. H.R. 1309. Short of that. I believe that many on our side would prefer to take up a flood extension bill that will provide a clean extension. In addition. there is the possibilitycount it. with 2 weeks to go. who knowsthe Senate simply may not agree to an extension that only runs 30 days and includes authorization provisions. We just learned last evening that the junior Senator from Oklahoma. Senator TOM COBURN. objected to the majority leaders request to take up and approve a clean. shortterm extension bill that would extend the program until December 31. 2012. So here we are. 2 weeks before the hurricane season starts. and the flood program runs out. and still no action from the Senate. I think it is also important to note that while this body repeatedly has voiced concern with spending. particularly with spending that is not offset with cuts. the Congressional Budget Office has indicated this bill will cost $2 million over 5 years. an amount that is not offset in this bill. Despite some of these shortcomings. I believe it is of utmost importance that we avoid any lapse in the program. Any lapse. regardless of the duration. would cause significant dislocation in our very fragile housing market for borrowers unable to complete mortgage closings. for insurance agents that sell national flood insurance policies as a part of their business. and for insurance companies that may be forced to reevaluate their voluntary participation. our National Flood Insurance Programs own Write Your Own program. All are very vital. Finally. we have a broad coalition of stakeholders who support the bill. who support the 5year extension. including industry insurance trade groups. floodplain managers. the Realtors who are holding their annual conference in Washington. D.C.. this week. many other groups. In addition. FEMAs Administrator. Mr. Craig Fugate. recently sent a letter to Congress urging approval of the extension. So here we are. weve got to pass this 30day extension. In conclusion. I just want to add that. thanks to Mrs. BIGGERT and to