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Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 19, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security


TERRORISM RISK INSURANCE REVISION AND EXTENSION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - September 19, 2007)

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Mr. WELCH of Vermont. May I engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Massachusetts?

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Yes.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Chairman, among other things, your bill balances the needs of smaller insurers and larger insurers. You have two provisions in there to try to help the small insurers play their part but not be overly burdened.

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Get to the question.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. The question is this: Our small insurers in Vermont that do business in a good and friendly way usually are in the range of $100 million. That is above your limit. The requirement that they will have to, in effect, indicate an insolvency risk threatens their rating which would adversely affect their business.

My question is, as you go forward, and as new information becomes available, my hope is that you and the committee would be willing to make what adjustments are feasible within the context of the overall goal.

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. If the gentleman would yield, he has pointed to a very important issue. We did try to make some accommodation with the small insurers, but I don't think we have finally done that. But I would say, you know, the notion that a bill that comes to the floor is not graven in stone shouldn't come as a surprise to people. We have a Senate. We have a genuine conference. It will be an open conference.

I should say I understand why some of my colleagues on the Republican side were somewhat puzzled at the notion that we might go to conference and, in an open way in conference, further amend the bill. They didn't believe in that. They didn't have any. So for them, that was all done in secret.

We will have an open conference to address these. And this is one of the issues. I do believe that it is legitimate. We will be meeting with, and the staffs will be meeting with, the smaller private insurers. To the extent possible consistent with the purpose of the bill, we will seek to improve on the accommodation.

Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I very much appreciate that.

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