[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5509-S5511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--H.R. 5569

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor once again to 
ask all of my colleagues to come together, Democrats and Republicans, 
as Americans to do something we should have done weeks ago: reauthorize 
the National Flood Insurance Program.
  The National Flood Insurance Program is a vital, necessary program to 
provide flood insurance to our citizens around the country to help 
protect their homes and property. Yet it was allowed to expire on June 
1. So for almost a month, we have not had a national flood insurance 
program.
  What does that mean? That means there have been thousands of real 
estate closings that have been held up, unable to move forward. There 
are thousands of first-time and other home buyers who want to go to 
their closings, who are excited about everything that means, but 
because of politics up here, because of that getting stuck in the mud--
even though substantively it should be completely noncontroversial--
they cannot go to their closings, and all of this in the midst of an 
extremely serious recession. We should never allow this sort of lapse 
in the program, but when unemployment nationally is almost 10 percent, 
when we need every real estate closing we can get our hands on to help 
move the economy along and to try to get it to a better place, this is 
the last moment we should allow this program to expire.
  As we all know, this reauthorization has been held hostage, and there 
is no more accurate way to describe what has been going on. It is 
completely noncontroversial. It is completely motherhood and apple pie. 
For that reason, it was taken hostage and put in the so-called 
extenders bill, which, overall, was very controversial and which had a 
lot of objectors, particularly because it balloons deficit and debt 
significantly--by tens of billions of dollars. I have asked several 
times over the last several weeks for that gamesmanship to stop, for 
the hostage to be released and for us to pass on a bipartisan basis the 
extension of the National Flood Insurance Program on its own.
  That was rejected. Over those several weeks, one version of extenders 
after another was also rejected. There were four, maybe five different 
versions of that bill which came to the Senate floor, and none of them 
achieved the required 60 votes to move forward. So the necessary 
extension of the National Flood Insurance Program languished for days 
and then weeks and now almost a month.
  With so many versions of the so-called extenders bill failing, let's 
just get back to doing the right thing on this vital program. Let's 
take this specific measure--the reauthorization of the National Flood 
Insurance Program--and pass it into law. The House has already done 
that. The Democratically controlled House has done exactly that--passed 
a full reauthorization through the end of the fiscal year. So let's 
take their bill and pass it and solve this problem and allow these 
closings to happen, give a little boost to the economy when we need 
every boost we can get. Certainly, people in the real world across 
America support that. As evidence of that, I ask unanimous consent to 
have printed in the Record a letter of strong support that the Senate 
take immediate action on H.R. 5569, which is signed by many different 
real estate and related business organizations that want to see those 
crucial real estate closings resume again.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                    June 25, 2010.
     Hon. Harry Reid,
     Majority Leader,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
     Hon. Mitch McConnell,
     Minority Leader
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell: We 
     respectfully request the Senate take immediate action and 
     approve H.R. 5569 that passed the House of Representatives 
     yesterday and would reauthorize and extend the National Flood 
     Insurance Program (NFIP) through September 30, 2010.
       The flash floods this year that inundated Oklahoma City, 
     ripped through the Southwest and damaged residences from 
     Montana to Tennessee are a grim reminder of the threat posed 
     by flooding. Furthermore, the NFIP is the only protection for 
     Gulf Coast property owners who face the threat of flooding by 
     oil-tainted water as a result of the massive leak in the Gulf 
     of Mexico.
       The NFIP protects 5.5 million Americans. Unfortunately, no 
     new policies have been offered to property owners who need 
     coverage since the program expired on May 31, 2010. This is 
     the third time this year Congress has allowed the NFIP to 
     expire. The timing of this latest expiration--a day before 
     the start of the hurricane season on June 1--could not have 
     been worse for coastal residents and impaired real estate 
     markets.
       While we agree with many members of Congress the NFIP is in 
     need of meaningful reform, America's property owners depend 
     on this important federal program administered with the help 
     of the property casualty insurance industry. Since the 
     program expired, those who need insurance can't get it. Those 
     who have it can't increase coverage. And anyone trying to buy 
     property that requires federal flood insurance is out of 
     luck--creating yet another disruption in a struggling real 
     estate market.
       Every day of delay in reauthorizing the NFIP contributes to 
     the confusion and risk

[[Page S5510]]

     for families in the real world. The purchase of a new flood 
     insurance policy in general carries a 30-day waiting period 
     before it goes into effect (except for real estate 
     transfers), so even if Congress acts today, a property owner 
     seeking coverage could be without coverage well into July.
       A long term extension is vital to provide needed certainty 
     to homeowners and small businesses that depend on the program 
     for flood damage protection, to protect our residential and 
     commercial real estate markets from serious harm during a 
     very difficult economic time, and to provide stability for 
     the companies and agents that sell and administer the NFIP 
     policies to millions of consumers across the country. We 
     respectfully request that you act now and pass H.R. 5569 
     TODAY--homeowners and businesses across the country simply 
     cannot wait.
           Sincerely,
         American Hotel and Lodging Association, American 
           Insurance Association, American Land Title Association, 
           American Resort Development Association, Building 
           Owners and Managers Association, CCIM Institute, The 
           Chamber Southwest LA, Credit Union National 
           Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Greater New 
           Orleans Incorporated, Independent Community Bankers of 
           America, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of 
           America, Institute of Real Estate Management, Mortgage 
           Bankers Association, National Apartment Association, 
           National Association of Federal Credit Unions, National 
           Association of Home Builders, National Association of 
           Realtors, National Multi-Housing Council, National 
           Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Property 
           Casualty Insurers Association of America.

  Mr. VITTER. Again, the National Flood Insurance Program has universal 
bipartisan support. This extension does not increase the deficit. It is 
not a spending and debt issue. It has only been taken hostage in these 
larger battles over other matters. Let's release this hostage and do 
the right thing.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of H.R. 5569, which was received from the House--this 
bill extends the authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program 
until September 30--that the bill be read a third time and passed and 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. And I will object at the end of this reservation.
  We had an opportunity to pass flood insurance last week, and not a 
single Senator from Senator Vitter's side of the aisle would vote for 
the package because it provided unemployment compensation for 1.2 
million Americans who are out of work, including 10,000 in the State of 
Louisiana. I believe for that reason the Republicans voted against it. 
They did not want to extend unemployment benefits. Flood insurance was 
in there, and they wouldn't vote for it. So after I object, I will 
offer a unanimous-consent request, and the Senator from Louisiana will 
get a chance to pass flood insurance as part of the entire package. So 
I object to this unanimous-consent request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, reclaiming my time, here we go again--the 
same old gamesmanship. Through the Chair, let me correct my 
distinguished colleague from Illinois. The reason that bill was 
objected to by all Republicans, as well as some Democrats, was not the 
extension of unemployment insurance. If that is his understanding, let 
me explain to him, through the Chair, that his understanding is 
completely wrong. In fact, I have stood here on the Senate floor and 
suggested a UC to separate that part of the bill as well and to pass 
it. But the objection of many Senators, including mine, is the 
ballooning of the deficit and the debt, which every single version of 
that bill did by tens of billions of dollars, the original version by 
approximately $180 billion.
  So, Mr. President, my distinguished colleague's understanding is 
exactly wrong, and here we go again. My distinguished colleague and his 
leadership on the Democratic side have had multiple opportunities to 
attempt to pass a version of this bill--four or five versions; I have 
lost count. Each and every time, they did not get the necessary votes, 
including not getting certain Democratic votes.
  So can we finally, after going through that exercise, after allowing 
the National Flood Insurance Program to lapse for almost a month now, 
can we finally do the right thing and pass this noncontroversial 
program on its own, as Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic majority in 
the House have done?
  Mr. DURBIN. Will the Senator from Louisiana yield for a question?
  Mr. VITTER. Certainly.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want some clarification because I 
thought I heard the Senator say something. Is the Senator saying that 
if we offer a separate measure on the floor which reauthorizes the 
National Flood Insurance Program--and let's add in there, for example, 
this $8,000 home buyer credit we have talked about for more real estate 
closings, the extension of the home buyer credit, which was passed on 
the floor--and unemployment compensation as an emergency expenditure, 
is the Senator from Louisiana saying he would vote for that package?
  Mr. VITTER. If that package is paid for. I will be happy to produce 
all of the pay-fors. I will be happy to produce ways to responsibly pay 
for that package. If that package is handled responsibly that way, 
absolutely yes.
  Mr. DURBIN. Then we are still at loggerheads because unemployment 
compensation has been offered as emergency spending throughout this 
recession, and now I am not sure where the Senator's pay-fors would 
come from, but that creates a problem.
  Mr. VITTER. To reclaim my time, they have been offered over and over. 
I will be happy to offer them. There are ways to solve that problem. 
But in the meantime, can we pass a necessary program, the cessation of 
which is holding up real estate closings all around the country and 
hurting an already ailing economy when we are experiencing almost 10 
percent unemployment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois is recognized.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am going to make a unanimous-consent 
request, I notify my colleague from Louisiana. This unanimous-consent 
request will extend and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance 
Program, the reason he came to the floor. It includes the provisions 
that are also part of the earlier discussion about the extenders 
package. It is a lengthy list and many of these are traditional annual 
reauthorizations of a number of provisions in the Tax Code that 
encourage research and development, the development of biofuels, and 
that sort of thing.
  It also includes, for the record, $33.7 billion in emergency spending 
to extend unemployment compensation benefits to the end of the year. It 
would help 10,700 residents of the State of Louisiana who currently are 
being cut off from unemployment compensation. It includes $16 billion, 
paid for, that is going to be given to the States to help them deal 
with the costs of Medicaid in this recession. It has the provision in 
there for the so-called Medicare doc fix and a number of other 
provisions.
  I am going to give the Senator from Louisiana an opportunity to 
extend the National Flood Insurance Program by agreeing to the 
following unanimous consent:
  I ask unanimous consent that the Chair lay before the Senate the 
Message from the House on H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax 
Loopholes Act; that the Senate move to concur with the House amendment 
to the Senate amendment to H.R. 4213 with the Baucus amendment No. 
4386; that the motion to concur with an amendment be agreed to and the 
motion to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, reserving my right to object and I will 
object in a minute, I guess this exchange is at least useful because it 
illustrates the gamesmanship that is continuing to go on. My 
distinguished colleague is giving me this opportunity. My distinguished 
colleague is holding a gun to my head, trying to say you have to vote 
to balloon the deficit, trying to say you have to vote for other 
irresponsible action if you simply want a necessary program for your 
State and the Nation, which does not cost anything in terms of 
increased deficit spending, to move forward. I thank my distinguished 
colleague for holding the

[[Page S5511]]

gun to my head for that wonderful opportunity, but I reject it and I 
think the American people reject it, so I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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