Date: 2015-01-07
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of H.R. 26. the TRIA Reauthorization Act of 2015. This bill passed in the last Congress overwhelmingly 4177. I first want to thank Speaker BOEHNER and Leader PELOSI for acting so quickly to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. or TRIA. Unfortunately. this critical program expired on January 1. and unless Congress swiftly reauthorizes TRIA. our economy will be dangerously exposed if we have another terrorist attack. In fact. one of the financial rating agenciesFitchhas said that if Congress doesnt reauthorize TRIA by the end of January. they are going to start downgrading companies and major construction projects. which would hurt the American economy. The other rating agencies have made equally strong statements about the importance to reauthorize TRIA. Already. companies are having trouble getting terrorism insurance. and many companies that had terrorism insurance have now lost it because there were clauses written into their policies that said if TRIA is not there they do not have the insurance coverage. I also want to thank very much Chairman HENSARLING and Chairman NEUGEBAUER. as well as Ranking Member WATERS and the Democrats on the Financial Services Committee. for their very hard work on this bill. which represents a true bipartisan compromise. I especially want to thank my colleagues from New York. PETER KING and Senator SCHUMER. who have worked very hard on this bill. which is critical to the State of New York. and I would say every State in our Union. I believe that this compromise will ensure that terrorism insurance remains available and at affordable prices. This has always been the purpose of TRIA. and I believe that this bill will accomplish that goal. After the last terrorist attack on our homeland9/11insurers realized that they couldnt accurately model for terrorism riskit was simply too unpredictableand the market for terrorism insurance completely shut down. Without terrorism insurance. all construction stopped in New York City. We couldnt build anything. and thousands and thousands of jobs were lost. In response. Congress came together in a bipartisan way and passed TRIA. which provides a government backstop for terrorism insurance. The goal of TRIA was to make terrorism insurance both available and affordable. and that is exactly what it has done. This has come at no additional expense whatsoever or cost to the taxpayer. Initially. the House TRIA bill raised the trigger for the governments backstop by a whopping 500 percent from $100 million to $500 million. This would have forced small- and mediumsized insurers out of the market entirely and would have actually reduced the amount of terrorism insurance available to American businesses. I was strongly opposed to increasing the trigger to $500 million because it would make terrorism insurance unavailable and unaffordable to businesses all across this country. Fortunately. this compromise bill will only raise the trigger for the government backstop from $100 million to $200 million. This modest increase will ensure that small- and mediumsized insurers are not forced out of the market entirely. while also protecting taxpayers. and I fully support this compromise approach. This bill also slightly increases the amount that the government recoups from the industry after TRIA is triggered. which will ensure that taxpayers are fully repaid for TRIA if it is needed. Importantly. the compromise does not include the socalled bifurcation proposal. which would have treated nuclear. biological. chemical. and radiological attacks differently from other socalled conventional attacks. This made no sense whatsoever. and this compromise sensibly drops this proposal entirely. A terrorist attack is a terrorist attack. Finally. I am pleased that the bill reauthorizes TRIA for a full 6 years. This will provide much needed certainty to businesses across the country as they expand and create more American jobs. Support for reauthorization of TRIA is deep and it is strong in the business community across this country. Mr. Speaker. I enter into the RECORD a letter from 28 different business stakeholders strongly supporting the reauthorization and the need for TRIA. DEAR REPRESENTATIVE: American businesses strongly support H.R. 26 the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015. This bill is the same as the TRIA legislation that passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 417 7 on December 10. 2014. Our coalition represents a diverse and broad majority of business stakeholders. We urge you to SUPPORT the bill when it is considered under suspension of the rules this week. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act is vital to the millions of businesses. job creators. and workers across the country reliant on TRIA to secure terrorism insurance and protect our economic growth. Following the attacks of September 11. 2001. Congress created TRIA to address a void in the marketplace. foster economic stability. and provide certainty to forprofit and nonprofit entities across the country. For the past dozen years. the United States has relied on TRIA as a fiscally responsible terrorism risk management plan to protect taxpayers and our national security and stability. It is critical that Congress act immediately to keep our terrorism insurance protection program in place. We urge your support of this important bill. Sincerely. American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA). American Gaming Association (AGA). American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA). American Insurance Association (AIA). American Land Title Association (ALTA). American Society of Workers Compensation Professionals (AmCOMP). Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). California Insurance Wholesalers Association (CIWA). CCIM Institute. Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT). Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB). CRE Finance Council (CREFC). Financial Services Roundtable (FSR). Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big "I"). Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM). Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). National Apartment Association (NAA). National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). National Association of REALTORS� (NAR). National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Reinsurance Association of America (RAA). Texas Surplus Lines Association (TSLA). The Real Estate Roundtable (The Roundtable). The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS). U.S. Chamber of Commerce.