On the recordNovember 13, 2012
before the Senator from New Jersey leaves the floor, I just wish to say this Senator's heart goes out to the Senator and his people. We take hurricanes more as a part of our lifestyle in Florida. But when we combine a hurricane in the Northeast at this time of year, during the full Moon, at high tide, in one of the most densely populated coastal areas of the United States, then we definitely have a problem. This Senator wants to help Senator Lautenberg with what is going to be necessary for the additional funding of FEMA and so forth. I want the Senator to think about an idea that we implemented in Florida, to create, in effect, a reinsurance fund against this kind of catastrophe. We call it the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. This was done when I was the elected insurance commissioner--prior to me, and then I had to implement it in the aftermath of the monster hurricane in the 1990s, Hurricane Andrew. I have talked to our colleagues in the Senate about a national catastrophic fund. People in other parts of the country do not think hurricanes are their problem. But what they do not realize is that their taxpayers are picking up the load.…
