International Insurance Standards Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, who is also a very good friend of mine, for yielding.

I rise in support of H.R. 4537, the International Insurance Standards Act. I first want to start with thanking the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck) for the countless hours and effort that he put in, in a bipartisan effort, crafting this bill that would allow us to get an incredibly wonderful bipartisan vote.

On top of that, we had some jurisdictional issues, so we had two chairmen from Texas, of the Ways and Means and Rules Committees, Chairman Brady and Chairman Sessions, who also worked with us to navigate those jurisdictional issues.

I also want to thank the ranking member, Ms. Waters, for working with both Mr. Heck and me to navigate some of the issues that she had with this bill to allow us to craft a piece of legislation that could get bipartisan support. I know at a time when a lot of people don't think that bipartisanship necessarily happens in this Chamber or in this town, because it doesn't make great news, it happens. People work together; they compromise; and they find a pathway forward. I think this is a great example of that, and I want to thank the ranking member for her help in this effort and for her support. Again, it passed out of committee 56-4.

In essence, what we are doing here is saying that we have had a State-based model in America that has served this country very well for 150 years. We have been focusing on policyholder protection and solvency protection. Our insurance industry has been pretty resilient, and we are proud of it.

But we also recognize that the world is changing. It has become a far smaller world. We have different standards in different countries, and we have to be able to navigate those differences. As Americans, we have to be able to engage with the rest of the world. That is a good thing. But as we engage, we also want to make sure that we don't sell our State-based American model for some other model in some other country.

If we want to change an insurance model of regulation in America, that is our job in this Chamber. We shouldn't have some executive appointee negotiate a trade deal that undermines our State-based model. So that was the vision of what we are trying to accomplish.

In essence, we provide parameters to U.S. negotiators to prevent Federal U.S. negotiators from entering into an international insurance agreement unless it is consistent and reflective of the existing U.S. system of insurance regulation. So, again, it has to be consistent and reflective of our model.

It creates more transparency in the international insurance negotiation process, as U.S. negotiators have to regularly inform Congress as to the state and content of the negotiations that are being undertaken. It also ensures that our State insurance regulators are closely consulted in a process of the international insurance standards setting.

So this is a well-crafted bill that took in concerns that both sides of the aisle had.

I would like to note, as a Member of this body, and I think both sides feel this way, and whether it was President Clinton or President Bush or President Obama or now President Trump, we have a role in this Chamber, and, oftentimes, we cede power to the executive. I think it is important for us to exert some authority here to say that, if we are going to change the rules, then you just can't do it without us and through international negotiations.

I think this is a look to that point that, again, we have a great model. If we are going to change it, we need to be a part of it. We need to be consulted.

So with that, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member, and I want to thank Mr. Heck and the gentleman from Michigan.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a special moment to thank Mr. Duffy and Mr. Heck. They worked very hard to resolve the concerns and the differences that arose in trying to put together this legislation.

As Mr. Duffy has said, the world has changed, and we cannot be isolated in any way, just thinking about regulations that absolutely are impacted by what is going on internationally. I think, with all the hard work that was done by these two Members, we were able to figure out how to protect the work of the States and the laws that we have, but, at the same time, recognize that we are working in an international atmosphere. We must understand that gaps must be closed; I think we have done that sufficiently.

Again, I would like to thank them. Mr. Heck is just getting off the plane. He wanted to be here, because he has worked so hard on this legislation. He is not able to make it, but I want everybody to recognize that he did a tremendous job in helping us work through the difficulties of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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