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House Passes Terrorism Insurance Legislation
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed a bill that would extend for two years the 2002 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which expires at the end of the year, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 11). Under the measure, approved by a vote of 371-49, the federal government would continue to guarantee insurance coverage for major losses brought about by a terrorist attack. The Senate in November passed its version of the bill. It will be up to a House-Senate conference committee to create a unified act. Both bills encourage the private sector to take up more of the financial burden and include a phase-out plan for government involvement. The law helps reassure businesses that economic activity will not be interrupted by a terrorist event, said Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass). “The alternative is to let the terrorists put a terrorist tax on building large buildings in our large cities and we should not allow that,” he said. The House legislation outstrips its Senate counterpart in mandating insurance for acts of WMD terrorism, AP reported. The White House criticized the House bill for including group life insurance and coverage for domestic terrorism (Associated Press/Washington Times, Dec. 8).
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