| Contact: Jordan Goldes | Phone (718) 423-2154 | Fax (718) 423-5591 | http://www.house.gov/ackerman | ||||||
| November 16, 2007 | |||||||||
| Ackerman Commends Senate for Passing Terrorism Insurance Bill | |||||||||
|
(Washington, DC) - U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today applauded the Senate’s renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), the federal government’s post 9/11 terrorism insurance program critical to rebuilding Ground Zero and other sites attacked by terrorists. However, Ackerman insisted that a final bill contain the more expansive provisions in the House-passed version.
The Senate bill extends TRIA for seven years—shorter than the 15 years approved by the House—and does not contain the “reset language” which lowers trigger levels and deductibles for insured losses exceeding $1 billion. Other provisions in the House bill but not in the Senate legislation include the addition of group life insurance and the requirement of nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological coverage.
Ackerman maintained that a final bill must contain the above provisions as well as the longer extension period and remains hopeful that the differences between the House and Senate versions can be worked-out in conference committee. The 15-year extension and the reset language were items authored by Ackerman.
Ackerman, along with Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass), championed TRIA’s renewal both in the committee and in the full House. The Financial Services Committee approved the measure last August 1 and the House passed the bill this past September 19.
“Passage of TRIA’s extension by the Senate continues to keep the momentum swinging” said Ackerman. “Hopefully this vote will bring us closer to passing of a final bill that provides a 15-year extension, the critical reset mechanism and vital group life, nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological coverage.”
After the 9/11 attacks, many insurance companies eliminated terrorism insurance from their policies, judging the potential losses from a major terrorist attack to be too great to insure against. In response, Congress passed TRIA, which created an insurance backstop from the federal government to protect against catastrophic terrorism-related loses. The measure was extended for two years in 2005 and expires at the end of this year.
###
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||