Ron Klein: “the amendment before us is testament to the fact that this legislation is truly a work of bipartisanship. Democrats and…”

“the amendment before us is testament to the fact that this legislation is truly a work of bipartisanship. Democrats and Republicans came together as this legislation began to work its way through the process. A number of interested Members reached out to us with well-thought suggestions on how to improve the underlying bill. I am pleased to say we were able to incorporate many suggestions into this amendment, including the adoption of a provision that the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite) has been developing over the last couple of years. This amendment would establish a high-level natural catastrophe reinsurance fund which would be authorized to write reinsurance contracts to cover catastrophic natural disasters. The addition of such a fund would add a third layer of protection to the legislation, which could further help to increase availability and stabilize rates for homeowners. The fund would provide reinsurance contracts for coverage that is available after the qualified reinsurance program has sustained losses resulting from a 1-in-200-year event. Coverage would be provided on an actuarially sound basis and would not displace or compete with the private market. This provision will go a long way with providing high-level protection for States coping with natural disasters. The amendment also provides for a study and conditional authorization for the inclusion of commercial residential lines of coverage.”