Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria: the images of the human misery and the economic devastation are still clearly imprinted on our minds. Unfortunately, we know that part of this is a result of a failed National Flood Insurance Program, which, Mr. Speaker, faced three important challenges. First, it is a bankrupt program. It is unsustainable. Taxpayers are on the hook for $1.2 trillion, running an annual actuarial deficit of $1.5 billion. It has already received two different bailouts, for a combined total of about $25 billion. Also, it incents and subsidizes people to actually live in harm's way. Finally, Mr. Speaker, it is a government monopoly that, notwithstanding subsidized rates, still, unfortunately, has unaffordable premiums for many. Today is a good day, Mr. Speaker, because today the House gets to vote on the 21st Century Flood Reform Act. I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer) for his leadership on the mapping reforms and reinsurance. I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Ross) for his reforms on opening up the market. I certainly want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) for his tireless effort and leadership in bringing this bill to the floor. There are a lot of good reforms in this bill, Mr. Speaker, for both taxpayers and ratepayers. Let me just briefly touch upon two. It is an absolutely revolutionary reform, Mr.…”