Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SM 1538
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì7555906Î755590                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/25/2014           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




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