Press Releases

The rule before us today provides for the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program through September 30, 2016. This program was established in 1968 in response to increasing Federal government spending for disaster relief. The NFIP was intended to alleviate some of the public's financial burden because the government covered losses generated by floods in the form of disaster relief payments.

With the increase of severe weather in the past few years, the need to reauthorize this program before it expires on September 30^th is great. The National Flood Insurance Program, housed within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has become financially strained following severe hurricanes — including Katrina in 2005, which significantly increased insurance claims.

In addition to extending this program for an additional five years, this bill also includes a 3-year delay of the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement as a result of the new, updated flood maps. This will allow our constituents to be notified if their home is now at risk of flooding and purchase insurance accordingly, by requiring annual notifications to homeowners living in flood zones about the flood risk in their community, the geographical boundaries of the flood zone, the requirement to purchase flood insurance, and a general estimate of what similar homeowners in similar communities typically pay for flood insurance.

This bill also provides optional coverage for additional living expenses incurred by homeowners when losses from a flood make their home unfit to live in. For businesses and commercial properties or multifamily properties, this bill provides optional coverage for losses resulting from any partial or total interruption of the insured's business caused by flood.

We saw massive devastation to the southeastern part of our country in 2005. But we also saw the resiliency of the American people; it's no easy task to rebuild your entire life from the ground up.

Recognizing the economic reality that having flood coverage could keep families from financial ruin but - at the same time - add additional and substantial costs to family budgets, this bill allows families to pay flood insurance premiums in installments.

This bill will also help our local communities prepare for the worst by authorizing the use of Community Development Block Grant funds for communities to reach out to homeowners about flood insurance rates, mapping, and inclusion in flood zones and by authorizing localities to use Community Development Block Grant funds to supplement existing state or local funding for building code enforcement. The National Flood Insurance Reform Act gives communities the tools they need to prepare, protect and rebuild.

M. Speaker, I'm pleased that the Rules Committee made in order my amendment to H.R. 1309 and I want to thank the Committee for working with me to make this important amendment in order.

My amendment is simple: if FEMA makes a mistake in designing a flood map, communities can be reimbursed for the costs of mounting a successful challenge.

Currently, communities that dispute FEMA's flood elevations can hire a private engineering firm to get a -second opinion- flood map.

While this may sound like an attractive option, it puts small communities in a very difficult financial position. Hiring a private engineering firm is expensive and cost-prohibitive for many small communities.

On the one hand, if the community decides that it's too expensive to get a second opinion, homeowners are forced to pay higher, or in some cases, needless flood insurance premiums.

One the other hand, if the community does mount a successful challenge to the original FEMA map, homeowners are spared from having to pay the higher flood insurance premiums. But, the town still must pay the costs associated with obtaining that second map.

I've heard of many small communities that are forced into this tough situation, including the Town of Holliston in my district. There is substantial evidence to support the argument that the FEMA map is incorrect, but town officials are struggling to find a way to pay the $30,000 it would cost to conduct a second engineering study.

I feel for these town officials. They want to do the right thing and help their residents but these small towns are already cash-strapped and cutting funding left and right for essential services like schools and police. There simply is no money for a legitimate but expensive second opinion map.

If FEMA makes a mistake in mapping a flood area, they should pay for it. I encourage my colleagues to support my amendment.

M. Speaker, this bill is proof that Congress can work in a bipartisan way. Passed out of the House Committee on Financial Services 54-0, this bipartisan bill is timely with hurricane season just around the corner. It is also important to add that the Congressional Budget Office estimates enacting H.R. 1309 will have no net impact on direct spending over the 2012-2016 or 2012-2021 periods.

I hope my colleagues will support my amendment and I look forward to supporting this bill.