Tria Program Reauthorization Act of 2026

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 7128, the TRIA Program Reauthorization Act of 2026, sponsored by Representative Flood.

I am pleased that today we are considering this critical legislation to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program for 7 years. This is a bipartisan bill, as it has been in past reauthorizations.

I first thank Chairman Hill, Ranking Member Waters, Representative Flood, and our staffs for working to ensure long-term certainty and availability of affordable terrorism risk insurance all across the country, which small businesses, hospitals, universities, not-for- profits, and others rely on.

TRIA was first enacted after the September 11 terrorist acts. After the attack, terrorism risk insurance all but disappeared, and any coverage that could be found was extremely expensive. Without terrorism insurance, commercial reconstruction in New York stalled, raising the threat of larger economic fallout.

In response, Congress passed TRIA in 2002 to provide certainty for insurers and policyholders and access to terrorism risk insurance by creating a Federal backstop in the event of catastrophic losses. Since then, the program has effectively done just that.

As we look back nearly 25 years since 9/11, it is important to recognize the Federal Government's role in supporting economic development through TRIA. In our role in Congress, as stakeholders, we unanimously agree with that act.

TRIA is set to expire at the end of 2027. By reauthorizing the program ahead of that deadline, it will offer desperately desired certainty to policyholders moving forward.

This legislation will provide a long-term reauthorization through 2034 and make targeted but sensible updates to the program. The bill would increase the threshold to certify an individual terrorism event to require more than $10 million in property and casualty insurance losses from the current level of more than $5 million. It would also codify the existing regulatory requirement that Treasury provides public notice in the Federal Register within 30 days of beginning the process of certification determination and require Treasury to issue its determination within 90 days of that notice.

To address minor technical feedback from Treasury, the bill will now allow the Secretary of the Treasury to extend the review period for an additional 365 days if there is insufficient information at the time to determine certification.

I also thank Congresswoman Velazquez and Congresswoman Pressley for their efforts on the bill, as their communities were directly impacted by tragedies caused by terrorism.

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the chairman.

I was appalled by reports that a FEMA employee used their authority entrusted by the United States to determine access to Federal aid based on a political yard sign.

Whether we are talking about FEMA or the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, this type of action violates the mission of Federal programs that Congress designs to work for all Americans.

Likewise, H.R. 7128 is also designed to avoid anything like that from happening in the future with regard to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program.

Congress passed TRIA shortly after the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks in an effort to ensure all businesses, not just some, could access terrorism insurance coverage. Since then, we have repeatedly reauthorized the act to provide certainty to all American businesses and the insurance market.

However, a capricious use of TRIA would undermine the certainty, and, for that reason, some of the changes we made to the act would ensure that certainty is a part of what both sides believe to be necessary.

Mr. Speaker, I know the chairman agrees with me on this matter, and I value his thoughts as well.

Mr. Speaker, TRIA exists because the private market, left alone, will not provide adequate terrorism risk insurance for businesses, universities, and policyholders. The losses are too large and too unpredictable for private insurers to price or absorb alone. We learned this after September 11 when coverage all but vanished and commercial reconstruction stalled in New York City.

Congress stepped in with a Federal backstop, and for over two decades, TRIA has kept the market functioning. H.R. 7128 reauthorizes that Federal reinsurance program for 7 years, extending certainty to small businesses, hospitals, universities, and not-for-profits that rely on it.

This is a bipartisan piece of legislation. With TRIA set to expire at the end of 2027, passing this bill now and by reauthorizing it through 2034 with sensible targeted updates is both timely and necessary.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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