1Urging the Congress of the United States to reauthorize
2Federally provided terrorism reinsurance for insurers.

3WHEREAS, The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization
4(TRIPRA) maintains stability in the insurance and reinsurance
5markets by continuing to deliver substantive, direct benefits to
6businesses, workers, consumers and the economy overall in the
7aftermath of a terrorist attack on the United States; and

8WHEREAS, Insurance protects the United States economy from
9the adverse effects of the risks inherent in economic growth and
10development while also providing the resources necessary to
11rebuild physical and economic infrastructure, offer
12indemnification for business disruption and provide coverage for
13medical and liability costs from injuries and loss of life in
14the event of catastrophic losses to persons or property; and

15WHEREAS, The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, produced
16insured losses larger than any natural or manmade event in
17history, with claims paid by insurers to their policyholders
18eventually totaling approximately $32.5 billion, making it the

1second most costly insurance event in United States history; and

2WHEREAS, The sheer enormity of the terrorist-induced loss,
3combined with the possibility of future attacks, produced
4financial shock waves that shook insurance markets, causing
5insurers and reinsurers to exclude coverage arising from acts of
6terrorism from virtually all commercial property and liability
7policies; and

8WHEREAS, The lack of terrorism risk insurance contributed to
9a paralysis in the economy, especially in construction, tourism,
10business travel and real estate finance; and

11WHEREAS, The United States Congress originally passed the
12Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-297, 116
13Stat. 2322) (TRIA), in which the Federal Government agreed to
14provide terrorism reinsurance to insurers and reauthorized this
15arrangement via the Terrorism Risk Insurance Extension Act of
162005 (Public Law 109-144, 119 Stat. 2660) and the Terrorism Risk
17Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-
18160, 121 Stat. 1839) (TRIPRA); and

19WHEREAS, Under TRIPRA, the Federal Government provides
20reinsurance after industrywide losses attributable to annual
21certified terrorism events exceeding $100,000,000; and

22WHEREAS, Coverage under TRIPRA is provided to an individual
23insurer after the insurer has incurred losses related to
24terrorism equal to 20% of the insurer's previous year's earned
25premium for property-casualty lines; and

26WHEREAS, After an individual insurer has reached such a
27threshold, the insurer pays 15% of residual losses and the
28Federal Government pays the remaining 85%; and

29WHEREAS, The Terrorism Risk Insurance Program has an annual
30cap of $100,000,000,000 of aggregate-insured losses, beyond

1which the Federal program does not provide coverage; and

2WHEREAS, TRIPRA requires the Federal Government to recoup
3100% of the benefits provided under the program via policyholder
4surcharges to the extent the aggregate-insured losses are less
5than $27,500,000,000 and enables the government to recoup
6expenditures beyond that mandatory recoupment amount; and

7WHEREAS, Without question, TRIA and its successors are the
8principal reason for the continued stability in the insurance
9and reinsurance market for terrorism insurance to the benefit of
10our overall economy; and

11WHEREAS, The presence of a robust private/public partnership
12has provided stability and predictability and has allowed
13insurers to actively participate in the market in a meaningful
14way; and

15WHEREAS, Without a program such as TRIPRA, many of our
16citizens who want and need terrorism coverage to operate their
17businesses all across the nation would be either unable to get
18insurance or unable to afford the limited coverage that would be
19available; and

20WHEREAS, Without Federally provided reinsurance, property and
21casualty insurers will face less access to terrorism reinsurance
22and will therefore be severely restricted in their ability to
23provide sufficient coverage that is necessary to support our
24economy when acts of terrorism occur; and

25WHEREAS, Despite the hard work and dedication of this
26nation's counterterrorism agencies and the bravery of the men
27and women in uniform who fought and continue to fight battles
28abroad to keep us safe here at home, the threat of terrorist
29attacks in the United States is both real and substantial and
30will remain as such for the foreseeable future; therefore be it

1RESOLVED, That the Senate urge the President of the United
2States and the Congress of the United States to reauthorize the
3Terrorism Risk Insurance Program; and be it further

4RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
5the President of the United States, the Speaker and Clerk of the
6United States House of Representatives, the President pro
7tempore and the Secretary of the United States Senate, each
8member of Congress from Pennsylvania and to the news media of
9Pennsylvania.