Rand Paul: “I am pleased to support S. 1066, the Senate version of my H.R. 154, which I introduced on the first day of the 108th…”

“I am pleased to support S. 1066, the Senate version of my H.R. 154, which I introduced on the first day of the 108th Congress. This legislation fixes a mistake in the official Fish and Wildlife Services' maps by removing a 19-acre area known as Matagorda Dunes, in Matagorda County, Texas, from the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources Act (COBRA). This change is fully supported by the Fish and Wildlife Service. In fact, a Fish and Wildlife Service created map, dated July 12, 2002, acknowledges the error. This change will ensure property owners who had already begun developing this area are able to obtain insurance. Congress never intended to deny these landowners access to insurance. Matagorda Dunes was included in COBRA as a result of a drafting error when the COBRA maps were revised in the early eighties. Unless this mistake is fixed, the result could be catastrophic for these property owners who invested in developing Matagorda Dunes under the belief that the land was excluded from COBRA. A failure to fix this mistake could also be quite costly to the American taxpayers. Fixing this mistake is also quite important to the people of Matagorda County, which is why a county official traveled to Washington to testify at a hearing on this bill in September. In conclusion, I thank Chairman Pombo and my colleague from Texas, Senator Hutchison, for their work on this issue and I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.”