Menendez: My Goal is to Make the Flood Insurance Program Simple, Affordable, Fair, Efficient, Accountable to Consumers & Taxpayers

WASHINGTON, March 14 -- The office of Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chair of the Sandy Task Force and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, began the process of reforming the much-maligned National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) during today's Committee hearing on the reauthorization of the NFIP, which is set to expire in September. In an effort to make flood insurance more affordable and efficient, Sen. Menendez questioned Roy E. Wright, the NFIP's administrator, on efforts to cut wasteful spending on private lawyers and Write-Your-Own (WYO) insurers.

Administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the NFIP experienced widespread failures and fraud that cheated storm victims and hampered recovery in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

"In the aftermath of Sandy, I saw firsthand all of the problems with the program and all of the work that needs to be done," Sen. Menendez said. "Sandy was a natural disaster, but the delays, the denials, the disputes they encountered throughout the flood insurance claims process--that was a man-made disaster."

Yesterday, Sen. Menendez visited Little Ferry, N.J., a town ravaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and stood with New Jersey storm survivors and homeowners to lay out his prescription for reform to make the NFIP: simple, affordable, fair, efficient and accountable to consumers and taxpayers.

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