Chris Dodd: “This bill has been 9 months in the process. I would like to begin by thanking my good friend from Texas. We began…”

“This bill has been 9 months in the process. I would like to begin by thanking my good friend from Texas. We began together on this legislation a long time ago, a few weeks after the tragic events of September 11. In fact, I recall, very vividly, my friend from Texas leaning over to me and saying we ought to do something in the area of terrorism insurance, not that we called it that at that particular time, but it was the same idea that is contained in the legislation before the Senate today. So despite whatever differences we may have at this particular moment, I would like to acknowledge his active involvement with this issue. He is one of the few people who was consistently interested in trying to get something done here over these many months. It has taken us a long time. This is an arcane subject matter. We are literally doing something we have never done before, at least that I know of. Back in World War II, for acts of war, the Federal Government acted as an insurance company. But, obviously, we are not duplicating that here.”