Florida Senate - 2014                             CS for SM 1538
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       597-03203-14                                          20141538c1
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk
    4         Insurance Act of 2002 as subsequently amended.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, the United States of America continues to be
    7  engaged in a continuing war against terrorism, and the threat of
    8  future domestic terrorist attacks remains, and
    9         WHEREAS, in future acts of terrorism, terrorists may employ
   10  the use of unconventional weapons, including nuclear,
   11  biological, chemical, or radiological weapons, which could
   12  result in a significant number of casualties, or a cybersecurity
   13  attack, which could significantly impair the nation’s critical
   14  cyber and communications networks and infrastructure, and
   15         WHEREAS, Congress enacted the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act
   16  of 2002 in order to provide a transparent system of shared
   17  public and private compensation for certain insured losses
   18  resulting from a certified act of terrorism through the
   19  Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, and
   20         WHEREAS, Congress reauthorized the Terrorism Risk Insurance
   21  Act of 2002 in 2005 and 2007 to maintain the ability of insurers
   22  to offer widespread coverage for future catastrophes resulting
   23  from an act of terrorism, and
   24         WHEREAS, the 2007 reauthorization contained several
   25  additional reforms, including revising the definition for the
   26  term “an act of terrorism” to include domestic, non-foreign
   27  sponsored acts of terrorism, and
   28         WHEREAS, if the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 and
   29  its subsequent amendments are not reauthorized before its
   30  scheduled expiration on December 31, 2014, the commercial real
   31  estate industry will be negatively impacted as building owners
   32  will encounter difficulty financing property sales or
   33  refinancing existing debt without access to adequate insurance
   34  policies, and
   35         WHEREAS, the lack of private terrorism insurance coverage
   36  would inordinately shift the financial burden to taxpayers as
   37  the Federal Government may need to cover such losses in the
   38  event of an attack, and
   39         WHEREAS, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program is an
   40  essential component of adequately preparing for an effective
   41  economic recovery following a catastrophic terrorist attack in
   42  the United States of America, NOW, THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That the Congress of the United States is urged to
   47  reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 and its
   48  subsequent amendments before the current authorization of the
   49  law expires on December 31, 2014.
   50         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   51  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   52  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   53  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   54  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.