Sen. Hensarling: Voice of the Taxpayer Must Be Heard in Flood Insurance Debate
"There are so many important voices in our debate today on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. Certainly the homeowners who have relied on this program -- theirs is a very important voice because we go to their homes and we go to their household finances. Theirs is a very important voice. Homebuilders, they have an important voice. Insurance agents and companies, local communities -- these are all important voices in this debate.
"But as far as I'm concerned, perhaps the single-most important voice is the voice that remains underrepresented in the debate and that is the voice of the American taxpayer. The American taxpayer who has been called upon in the past to bail out a program that is currently drowning in
"Maybe that's why I heard from Kathy in
"In talking about the program, Steven of
"Just two taxpayer comments. So again, we know for a fact the program is in debt. We know for a fact the program is running an actual annual deficit. So it begs the question: Should there be a permanent taxpayer subsidy? I say no. It cannot be, not when I'm sitting here looking at a national debt clock that continues to run out of control before us, which I continue to believe is a far under-appreciated clear and present danger to our republic. Part of those numbers spinning out of control represent the National Flood Insurance Program.
"I don't know if America will ever become a bankrupt society, but I know the face of bankruptcy is an ugly one. In
"I don't think America would ever become
"So I believe we need a National Flood Insurance Program that will make the program fiscally sustainable. I do believe that people should gradually - gradually - be expected to pay actuarial rates. They need predictability. We need to protect them from sticker shock, but the program must be made sustainable.
"I believe market competition is important and we have heard evidence that in many places where there has been even limited market competition we have actually seen premiums decreased. And the industry is poised to come in. It's a very different world today than it was half a century ago when this program was launched. Better risk assessment tools, better financing mechanisms to spread the risk globally. And so this is a bill that, perhaps, it would take as long as 15 years to fully phase in some actuarial rates. We're talking today about bills that, if enacted, would increase premiums about
"With other important reforms of mapping, mitigation, claims processing protections and reforms, I commend all of the authors of the legislation that we will be marking up today and I look forward to the markup."
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