Florida Senate - 2014                                    SM 1538
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-01154-14                                            20141538__
    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.
    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, if the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 is not
   25  reauthorized before its scheduled expiration on December 31,
   26  2014, the commercial real estate industry will be negatively
   27  impacted as building owners will encounter difficulty financing
   28  property sales or refinancing existing debt without access to
   29  adequate insurance policies, and
   30         WHEREAS, the lack of private terrorism insurance coverage
   31  would inordinately shift the financial burden to taxpayers as
   32  the Federal Government may need to cover such losses in the
   33  event of an attack, and
   34         WHEREAS, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program is an
   35  essential component of adequately preparing for an effective
   36  economic recovery following a catastrophic terrorist attack in
   37  the United States, NOW, THEREFORE,
   38  
   39  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         That the Congress of the United States is urged to
   42  reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 before the
   43  current authorization of the law expires on December 31, 2014.
   44         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   45  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   46  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   47  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   48  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.