Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007

HOMEOWNERS' DEFENSE ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - November 08, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

The Acting CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.

The text of the amendment is as follows:

Amendment No. 14 offered by Mr. Murphy of Connecticut:

Page 21, strike lines 21 through 25 and insert the following new subparagraph:

(B) require that an appropriate public body within the State shall have adopted adequate mitigation measures (with effective enforcement provisions) which the Secretary finds are consistent with the criteria for construction described in the International Code Council building codes.

Page 22, line 12, insert:

(7) to the extent possible, seeks to encourage appropriate state and local government units to develop comprehensive land use and zoning plans that include natural hazard mitigation.

Page 22, after line 21, insert the following new paragraph:

(8) has been certified by the Secretary, for such year, in accordance with an annual certification process established by the Secretary for such purpose, as being in compliance with the requirements under paragraphs (1) through (7).

The Acting CHAIRMAN. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to applaud my colleagues, Representative Klein, Representative Mahoney and Representative Ginny Brown-Waite, for bringing this measure before us today.

The rising premiums in the insurance world, the instability that this recent rash of natural catastrophes have brought to the insurance industry mandate a response from this Congress; and it's time, as Mr. Klein and Mr. Mahoney have said, to stop closing our eyes and pretend that the solution is to just continue to have a policy of crisis reaction, where we put Federal dollars after Federal dollars on top of these disasters.

This measure before us, very carefully considered and brought to the floor on a bipartisan basis, is a planful and market-based approach to the

[Page: H13352]

issue of crisis mediation, especially on the eastern seaboard.

But to the extent that we are setting up a new Federal role, to the extent that we're contemplating potentially committing Federal dollars through loans, frankly as Mr. Klein has said in a much more responsible way than we have done in previous situations, we need to make sure that these dollars are being used wisely.

Now, the manager's amendment before us right now goes a very long way towards that goal in making sure that the programs themselves at the State level are fiscally sound or actuarially sound.

The amendment before us, brought to the floor today by myself, Representative Matsui, Representative Bean and Representative Larson, seeks to build on that duty of fiscal responsibility that we have as we potentially commit, in a planful way, Federal dollars through loans to coastal areas.

Therefore, this amendment that we're offering today would require that before a State insurance program qualifies to borrow from the Federal Government, the Treasury Department will ensure that the State has taken adequate steps to mitigate future losses. It's a pretty common sense measure.

To do this, the amendment simply requires that the Secretary of the Treasury certify that participating States, entities, these State insurance funds, have implemented internationally recognized building codes to ensure that the new homes that are being built in these States can withstand severe natural catastrophes like earthquakes and floods and hurricanes.

[Time: 16:30]

These State programs have also developed land use plans to further mitigate the risk and losses stemming from natural disasters. This amendment doesn't provide for new Federal building codes. It doesn't provide for new Federal land use requirements or Federal risk mitigation regulations. It just merely seeks to assure that before we are putting Federal tax dollars in State programs that these States have done everything that they can to reduce future risks from natural catastrophe.

I would like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Klein, for working with me and the staffs for working with my staff on this issue. I think it addresses many of the issues that Mr. Roskam and others on the other side of the aisle have and will raise today. I think it assures that this very positive step forward that has been introduced by Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Klein will be made even safer and sounder if it comes to the point of using Federal taxpayer dollars in these programs.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source