[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 1015. A bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program 
through December 31, 2026; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs.
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, this is a theme I have been speaking of 
which affects States across the Nation, which is the National Flood 
Insurance Program and the threat that it might lapse and the inability 
of families to be able to afford.
  Why are flood insurance premiums so high, you might ask? Flood 
insurance premiums have skyrocketed across the country due to FEMA's 
new risk assessment system, Risk Rating 2.0. At the heart of the 
problem of Risk Rating 2.0 is that with much higher premiums, people 
will quickly be unable to afford coverage and just drop their policies.
  It is well-known in the insurance actuarial world that when you 
increase a policy by a certain percent, there is going to be another 
percent of people who just drop their coverage. That means that the 
pool of policyholders shrinks, and the program enters into what is 
called an actuarial death spiral, which is to say the risk, instead of 
being spread out over many, is concentrated in increasingly fewer 
people, driving up their premiums even that much more; therefore, more 
people drop.
  If we do nothing, the National Flood Insurance Program will collapse. 
This is important. The National Flood Insurance Program covers 4.7 
million American homes across the country. Now, clearly, I am concerned 
about Louisiana, as that is my State, but it is not just Louisiana or 
even just a coastal issue. Look at a map of those affected. The States 
in dark yellow have been hit the hardest by flooding. They have all had 
at least $1 billion in claims from the National Flood Insurance 
Program. Missouri--inland--has had over $1 billion in claims from the 
National Flood Insurance Program, as has my home State of Louisiana. 
But just go around, and you can see California and Hawaii--all with 
this issue. Now, 44 States have had at least $50 million worth of 
claims, and those would be in the kind of mustard color.
  So here you see again inland States--not coastal but inland--having 
problems with flooding. When we say a ``problem with flooding,'' we 
mean there is a family that has lost their possessions. They have lost 
their home, and now, they don't know where to go. That is what we mean 
by a ``problem with flooding.''
  My message to my colleagues representing States that rely on the 
National Flood Insurance Program is, let's find a way forward. One day, 
the National Flood Insurance Program will lapse if we fail to act.
  Now, we are going to, with this CR, do a temporary--temporary--
extension. I would ask that we actually have a reauthorization and a 
reform of the National Flood Insurance Program before it is too late.
  By the way, a short-term extension is better than nothing. I thank 
Speaker Johnson in the House for including a short-term extension. If 
that is the only option, let's take that option. However, I am working 
on a longer reauthorization so that the National Flood Insurance 
Program is not thrown into a legal purgatory every year or even 
sometimes multiple times a year.
  Today, I have introduced a bill to fully reauthorize the National 
Flood Insurance Program for this year and for next year. There are 4.7 
million homeowners across the country who deserve that little bit of 
certainty, and it does not seem like it is asking too much.
  Imagine if your homeowners or life insurance was subject to lapsing 
every year if Congress couldn't get their act together. Well, for 
families living in communities with the NFIP as the only option for 
flood insurance, this would be unsettling.
  In the past 10 years, Congress has passed 32 short-term National 
Flood Insurance Program extensions. The vote we are taking tomorrow 
will be the 33rd short-term extension--American families holding their 
breath 33 times. Families need stability. Businesses need stability. 
This is the absence of stability. This is a yin and a yang. Congress 
needs to reauthorize this for an extended period of time.
  Let's make flood insurance affordable again. I will keep working to 
do that. I am pleased that the Flood Insurance Program will survive the 
weekend, but we need to make it survive long term.
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