If Congress "Billeds" it, They Will Build
By Robert Warne - April 10, 2002President George W. Bush turned up the heat on Congress April 8 to go back to the drawing board and pass a terrorism risk insurance bill. He pointed to the dragging effects the lack of such a bill has had on the U.S. economy.
Bush said, “If people can’t buy insurance on a construction project, they can’t build the project. And if they can’t build the project, someone’s out of a job.”
He mentioned that the Hyatt Hotel Corp. has had to postpone a $400 million project in Chicago because it can’t secure financing without terrorism insurance. Another construction project in Nevada has been held up for the same reason. It is estimated that both projects hold the potential for employing thousands of workers. Bush used these examples to drive home the dire need for the federal government to provide a solution to keep construction projects rolling.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer also used the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants football teams as examples of other organizations that have lost their liability coverage since Sept. 11.
After an April 9 meeting at the White House, Terri Vaughan, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) president and Iowa insurance commissioner, praised Bush’s renewed efforts to get a bill passed.
“The federal government has a role to play to remove the cloud hanging over our industry and the markets. A narrowly tailored and time-limited federal law can bring certainty to the market and calm consumer fears. The members of the NAIC will continue to work with the Bush Administration and the Congress to bring about urgently needed federal terrorism insurance legislation.”
The Alliance of American Insurers (AAI) this week also urged the Senate to pass a terrorism insurance act. Alliance President Rodger Lawson said, “Insurance is the glue that holds the American economy together. But terrorism is an uninsurable act—one that only the government can ultimately be responsible for as the insurer of last resort.”
Robert Vagley, president of the American Insurance Association (AIA) thanked President Bush for urging Congress to take prompt action to enact terrorism risk legislation. He said, “America’s insurance companies stand solidly with the President in urging the Senate to act quickly and finish the task of creating a federal terrorism insurance backstop.”
Vagley added that because such legislation hasn’t been passed yet, “Jobs are being lost; construction is being delayed; real estate transfers are being held up; and airports, bridges, hospitals, office buildings, shopping centers, stadiums, and other facilities are operating without adequate terrorism insurance.”
The Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) also supports Bush's call for Senate action on legislation to create a short-term federal backstop that provides insurance coverage for public and private facilities that suffer catastrophic damages from terror attacks.
Martin DePoy, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts(R) and a CIAT spokesperson said, "It is more than a little unsettling to note that roadways, public facilities, office complexes, stadiums and crucial elements of infrastructure that are part of our daily lives are not adequately insured against terrorist attack. The implications are staggering."
The sticking point for passing a terrorism risk insurance act surrounds limits on lawsuits. Democrats thwarted earlier attempts to pass a bill that capped attorney fees, barred punitive damages and limited noneconomic damages.
Andy Davis, spokesman for the Democratic majority of the Senate Commerce Committee, according to The Associated Press, said, “They were making progress in the fall, but adding tort reform to a bill that’s supposed to deal solely with terrorism insurance—that’s what has caused the impasse.” | 
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