Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues from Montana and Nebraska for their hard work on not only this legislation but their very important amendment--long overdue. I certainly thank Senators JOHNSON and CRAPO, without whose leadership we couldn't be here to pass this bill. I thank my original cosponsors, Senator Kirk from Illinois who is here, Senator Jack Reed, Senator Heller, Senator Murphy, Senator Johanns, Senator Warner, Senator Blunt, and Senator Menendez, all of whom recognized the importance of having this incredibly important program reauthorized.
As author of the original TRIA legislation, I have watched this evolution closely. I could not be more convinced of the necessity to reauthorize the program for the long haul.
I remember the dark days right after 9/11. I was there. The worst thing was the loss of life--people we had all known. I know people who were lost--a guy I played basketball with in high school, a businessman who helped me on the way up, a firefighter with whom I did blood drives. But there was also the economic worry. People thought southern Manhattan would not come back. People thought businesses would flee New York--that New York's greatest days were behind us. And of course the people of New York, with their resiliency, backed up by everyone in this country--including President Bush, very strongly--did come back. But the uncertainty we faced in the immediate aftermath was that there would be no building in southern Manhattan or Manhattan at all. And we have some history.
One of the things that greatly stood in the way was the private sector did not offer any sufficient coverage to protect against the threat of terrorism. No one knew when there might be another terrorist incident. Insurance companies, knowing how large the losses were, figured it was better not to underwrite insurance than write it for such an astronomical sum that the building would not be even economically feasible.
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We have some colleagues who said this should be a private sector endeavor. Well, we have history. The private sector was unable, because of the potential economic losses if, God forbid, there was another terrorist attack, whether it be conventional, nuclear, or chemical, to provide terrorism insurance. When that occurs, banks would not finance buildings, knowing there was no insurance backup, and we would have been in huge trouble. That is why we devised the terrorism insurance bill.
For those who say let the private sector do it, we have an experiment. We have what the scientists would call a controlled experiment. When there was no terrorism insurance after 9/11, the private sector would not offer insurance. We even find to this day, as the existing bill expires, fewer people underwrite terrorism insurance and fewer buildings are financed.
So we can do one of two things: We can sit back and let the market handle this on its own and lose millions--literally millions--of jobs, lose economic stability, safety, prosperity, and growth or we can renew this legislation. We can come up with a smart, responsible, risk-sharing system where the private sector is paying upfront. But if, God forbid, there is another serious incident beyond the capability of the private sector to shoulder, the Federal Government can step in and provide a backstop. That is what we have done.
The TRIA Program is a shining example of the government partnering with the private sector to solve problems that neither can solve on its own.
Let me underline, first, the importance to my city of New York. The redevelopment of downtown Manhattan is booming there. People are flocking to live there and work there. It is the hot area of New York again--not just with financial services but with law and advertising and high-tech. It serves as a reminder of the role the Federal Government can and should play in helping facilitate the stability and growth of cities across the country.
This bill will not lessen the impact of a terrorist attack but will help ensure that our cities throughout the country are less vulnerable to the economic devastation that would follow such a horrific event.
But this bill is hardly just focused on New York City. It not only affects every large city--my good friend from Nebraska spoke--it affects the football stadium and any renovations that might occur there in Lincoln. I have been there for a Nebraska-Oklahoma game. It was an amazing experience. It affects any city that has large gatherings of people and buildings--shopping centers, athletic facilities, colleges. So it affects almost every State. That is one of the reasons we have come together and gotten such broad bipartisan support.
We must make sure that every reauthorization of the program provides the certainty lenders and developers need to make the kind of long-term investment our country and large projects need to stimulate job growth and economic growth, and this bill does just that. That is why it was passed out of the banking committee unanimously.
Again, I thank my colleagues, particularly on the other side of the aisle. As Senator Johanns said--and we say it on each bill where there is some bipartisan support--this one has overwhelming support. Maybe this bill can be a model that at least on many issues we can work together.
Time is of the essence. Insurance policies for 2015 are already being written. Each day that goes by without a TRIA Program causes great uncertainty in the market and holds back the potential for more development, more construction, more jobs, and more economic growth.
I will talk about the amendments later, but I urge my colleagues, both here in the Senate and in the House, to move as quickly as possible because our economy is greatly affected by it. It is one of those that ``runs quiet, runs deep.'' It is a quiet policy but a policy that greatly affects lots of things that go on.
Again, I thank my colleagues, Senator Crapo for his good and hard work, as well as Senator Johnson and my cosponsors.
I yield the floor.
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