Leaders of ProtectingAmerica.org, a group that has been campaigning for a federally backed national catastrophe program, said today they expect more success with the arrival of the Obama administration.

At the same time James Lee Witt, a co-chairman of the group and Former Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, sought to tamp down rumors he would be returning to FEMA under the incoming Obama administration, saying the speculation was “just rumors.”

Speaking at a press conference to promote ProtectingAmerica.org's vision of a national backstop for state catastrophe funds and highlight the publicly stated support for the proposal from President-elect Obama, Mr. Witt said he would help the new administration in any way, but is not seeking a government position.

“I'm not looking for any appointed position,” he said.

In terms of their agenda, however, Mr. Witt's co-chair, former Coast Guard Admiral and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security James Loy, said he believed the change in administration will make a significant difference in the legislative fortunes of their proposals.

Legislation that would have implemented a national catastrophe fund alongside a program providing funds to states for mitigation efforts won passage in the House, but ran into opposition in the Senate and from the Bush administration.

President-elect Obama was a co-sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation, which was introduced by his secretary of state designate, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

Speaking of his experiences testifying before Senate committees on the issue alongside a White House representative, Mr. Loy said, “The next time we have a panel of witnesses before the committee, I'd imagine the other voices at the table will be quite different.”

Mr. Loy said he “feels quite good” about the chances of moving ProtectingAmerica.org's proposal through the incoming 111th Congress. Currently the group is “very much in the drafting process” of writing the bill, and he said he has been working with House members to get the bill introduced as quickly as possible. On the Senate side, he said the group has been discussing the bill with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

ProtectingAmerica.org's proposal, according to Mr. Witt, is designed to ensure that affordable insurance will be available to homeowners and “break that damage-repair-damage repair cycle.”

As director of FEMA, Mr. Witt said he had seen firsthand cases where families had lost their homes and all their possessions to natural catastrophes. While his agency was able to provide food and shelter for those victims, he said, “those programs were not designed to replace everything that people lose.”

The organization's leaders said the proposal is designed to ease the burden on the federal government, and thus the taxpayers, by providing stronger guaranty funds for insurers.

They said the group would depend on the insurance industry to do what it has done for more than 200 years.

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ProtectingAmerica Group Expects Obama Support

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