[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 139 (Wednesday, September 19, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H10599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   INSURANCE CRISIS FACING HOMEOWNERS

  (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, after terrorists 
attacked New York City and Washington, DC on September 11, 2001, our 
Nation came together. Without a study commission or partisanship, 
Congress quickly passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act to help 
business owners, and acted swiftly again by passing an extension in 
2005. Now again, less than 2 years later, we just considered another 
TRIA extension.
  If Congress can come together and help businesses after a terrorist 
attack, we should be able to come together to help homeowners who 
cannot afford the skyrocketing costs of insurance. For over 3 years, 
Congress has forgotten about homeowners around the country who are 
grappling with ever-increasing insurance rates.
  For these reasons, Mr. Buchanan and I offered an amendment in the 
Rules Committee that would have added homeowners' reinsurance as losses 
covered under TRIA. This measure would have helped new families, 
parents, and grandparents who are homeowners. Sadly, the Rules 
Committee did not allow this amendment to be part of the rule and so 
Members did not have the opportunity to help their constituents.
  Although I voted for TRIA, we should be saddened that the majority 
chose only to help business owners today and to ignore the insurance 
crisis facing homeowners.

                          ____________________