Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4973, Flood Insurance Reform and Memorization Act of 2006

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4973, FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2006

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from California, my friend, Congresswoman Matsui, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for purposes of debate only.

This structured rule provides 1 hour of general debate, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Financial Services. It waives all points of order against consideration of the bill and makes in order only those amendments printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution.

It provides that the amendments printed in the report may be offered only in the order printed in the report and offered only by a Member designated in the report. They shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. These amendments shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.

Finally, the rule waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report, and, as always, it provides the minority with one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying legislation brought to the floor from the Financial Services Committee under the leadership of Coach MIKE OXLEY and Chairman RICHARD BAKER.

Yesterday evening, despite inclement weather, the Rules Committee met and took testimony from Members regarding their thoughts on how to improve this legislation. The committee determined that many of these amendments should be considered and made two-thirds of those amendments submitted to the committee in order, including seven Democrat and bipartisan amendments.

This legislation follows upon sensible reforms of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004, which also sought to update and modernize the National Flood Insurance Program. Although this previous effort at reforming the program was well intended, a number of provisions included in the 2004 act have yet to be implemented.

Also, this earlier effort is currently incomplete because it was passed by Congress before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the gulf coast and, therefore, did not incorporate the lessons learned from these storms and how best to administer the NFIP.

The Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act makes a number of commonsense changes to current law. Among other things, it does the following: it requires the Comptroller General of the United States to study the effects of extending the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements to all properties located in flood hazard areas and report back to Congress within 6 months on the findings.

It increases the fine levied against federally regulated lending institutions for each failure to require mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements to $2,000 and increases the total cap on fines for institutions to $1 million.

It reiterates FEMA's responsibilities to implement provisions of the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 and directs FEMA to continue to work with the insurance industry, State insurance regulators and other interested parties to implement the minimum training and education standards for all insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies, and mandates that FEMA submit a report to Congress on implementation of these provisions.

It directs FEMA to maintain and periodically publish an inventory of levees located in the United States so that these levees can be identified for National Flood Insurance Programs.

In addition to improving and reforming this program, this legislation also ensures that taxpayers are protected, including provisions to establish that nonresidential properties and nonprimary residences will be charged actuarial instead of subsidized rates.

It increases the NFIP's borrowing authority to $25 billion, but also a requirement that FEMA submit a report to Congress on how it intends to repay funds borrowed under this increased authority.

It requires a semiannual report by FEMA to Congress on the financial status of the National Flood Insurance Program.

It extends the current pilot program for mitigation of severe repetitive loss properties, which is set to expire September 30, 2009, to 2011.

Madam Speaker, I would like to commend Chairman Oxley and Chairman Baker for their hard work on this legislation. Listening to people, learning from the mistakes of the past and also from the impact of these devastating hurricanes has meant that we will continue our efforts to protect homeowners, taxpayers, while ensuring that a viable market for flood insurance continues to operate effectively and efficiently in the United States.

I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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