Political Quotes

“I oppose the gentleman's amendment. In drafting this bill, the chairwoman and I sought to strike the right balance between protecting homeowners and strengthening the flood insurance program. I believe that the bill before us today does just that. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the gentleman's amendment strikes the same balance. Specifically, by creating a reserve fund, the gentleman's amendment would allow the NFIP to increase insurance premiums on homeowners. So regardless of their flood risk, homeowners will have to pay more in order to fund a reserve fund that will never have enough money to pay out claims for catastrophic events. This isn't fair to our taxpayers, Mr. Chairman, and, in fact, would stall the already slow recovery of the housing market. I understand the problem that the gentleman is attempting to solve. We all know that the flood insurance program is over $17 billion in debt due to claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina. However, I think we have to be clear that Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic, once in a lifetime event. Prior to Katrina, the flood insurance program operated completely in the black. In addition, I believe that the bill contains many provisions that would allow the flood insurance program to reform its premium structure so that it can collect the premiums it needs to pay out claims.…”