Steve Israel: “I did not become involved in the issue of TRIA because of my seat on the House Financial Services Committee. I became…”

“I did not become involved in the issue of TRIA because of my seat on the House Financial Services Committee. I became involved in it because my district is located approximately 50 miles from Ground Zero, because I represent over 100 families whose lives and livelihood were completely upended as a result of the attacks on our Nation on 9/11. Mr. Speaker, I am going to support this extension, but I join with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in supporting it with some measure of disappointment. Our committee, under bipartisan leadership, reported a strong, comprehensive TRIA extension that included group life and covered domestic terrorism, had a public-private commission to ensure long-term alternatives to TRIA. None of that was included in the final product that we are going to vote on today. I have two major concerns that I will share with my colleagues, Mr. Speaker. One is the public-private commission on long-term solutions. The 9/11 families very much wanted to participate in a commission that would develop new policies, new alternatives to TRIA. Not only was their voice left out of this bill, but the commission itself was left out of this bill. Instead, we are going to have a bureaucratic report produced by a Presidential working group. I am sure it will be a good-faith effort, but surely those families deserve to be heard. {time} 1845 Surely those families have a tragic expertise in how lives can be destroyed and how livelihoods can be lost.…”