Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the National Flood Insurance Program is a program that has a number of challenges, but it is also a vital program for Americans who live in flood-prone areas. The challenges in the program are well-known. Regrettably, it is going bankrupt. Regrettably, it incents people to live in areas that are repeatedly flooded. Regrettably, it is a program that protects a government monopoly; that is why the House, earlier this year, acted with a comprehensive reform bill. Unfortunately, our friends on the other side of the Capitol have yet to act. We do not wish to have the current program lapse; thus, we are on the floor at this very moment. This is a very simple bill. It would provide a temporary, short-term authorization through the end of May of 2019, regrettably, I believe now, the ninth extension since the House has acted. And it also ensures that we provide certainty, certainty to the market of what the policies of the National Flood Insurance Program are. I was there in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. And one of the great tragedies--there were many tragedies, but one of the great tragedies was how few people actually had flood insurance. So what we want is a system that, hopefully, will see more people have flood coverage written into their homeowners' insurance policy. So the NFIP wisely had moved in the direction of what they call allowing insurance companies to not have to have a non-compete.…”