House passes six-year extension of
terrorism insurance program
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[December 11, 2014]
By Emily Stephenson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of
Representatives voted on Wednesday to extend a federal terrorism
insurance program that was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,
overcoming criticism from Democrats of a provision that would retool
part of 2010 Wall Street reforms.
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The program is intended to support insurers by creating a federal
backstop that kicks in if they lose a certain amount of money after
an attack. It has never been triggered.
Businesses, sports stadium owners and others that insure against
attacks have said their costs could rise if the program is not
renewed before it expires at the end of the year.
Lawmakers in both parties want to renew the program but are in
dispute over whether to include provisions related to the 2010
Dodd-Frank financial reforms.
Democrats objected to the House plan but let it move forward,
passing 417-7. It was not clear whether the Democrat-controlled
Senate would take up the same version.
"I urge the Senate to move on this bill and vote for these needed
reforms," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, said
in a statement.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2014/Dec/11/images/ads/current/cca_laptop-sda021709.png) The House bill reauthorizes the program for six years and doubles
the losses needed to trigger federal support to $200 million,
changes agreed to by Senate negotiators. It also includes the
Dodd-Frank provision.
At issue is a portion of the 2010 law that requires swaps
participants such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc to post margin against
certain kinds of riskier swap deals.
An early version of the law explicitly exempted energy, agriculture
and other "end-user" businesses that use swaps to hedge risks. But
the final text removed that protective language, raising concerns
that it could lead to higher costs.
The provision tacked into the insurance extension bill explicitly
frees these "end users" from the rules.
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"This isn't for Wall Street. It's for Main Street," said House
Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, a Republican.
Democrats, on the other hand, have argued the Dodd-Frank provision
does not belong in the terrorism extension bill. The Senate passed a
seven-year extension of the terrorism insurance program in July.
"We should have a clean bill, with nothing else in it," said
Representative Maxine Waters, who is the top Democrat on the
Financial Services Committee.
The White House said on Wednesday it opposed including Dodd-Frank
modifications in an unrelated bill but stopped short of threatening
to veto the insurance extension.
(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa
Shumaker)
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