Ga. Sen. Predicts Congress Will Extend Terror Cover
By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor
NU Online News Service, Feb.10, 4:10 p.m. EST, Washington?Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said, while he has not heard any discussion yet in the Senate on extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, he believes Congress will have to do something to continue to provide reinsurance.[@@]
"I don't see how we can't," Sen. Chambliss, who co-chairs the insurance caucus in the Senate, told an industry group.
TRIP, he said, was enacted because of concerns that American businesses would grind to a standstill in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Sen. Chambliss said, no one really knew the full nature of the problem. No one knew, he said, whether it was something temporary that could be dealt with quickly or a long-term problem.
Unfortunately, he said, everyone now knows it is a long-term problem.
Sen. Chambliss spoke at the annual Insurance Legislative Summit, which is sponsored jointly by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, the American Insurance Association and the Reinsurance Association of America, all of Washington.
Sen. Chambliss, who also serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said that terrorism, and terrorism insurance, are concerns that will affect the industry for years to come.
Noting the current debate over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he said he was told directly by the Central Intelligence Agency that while WMDs were not an imminent threat during the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, there was clearly a gathering threat.
The fallen dictator, Sen. Chambliss said, intended to use WMDs against Americans just as he had against his own citizens and against Iran.
Much of the current debate, he said, is largely political in the run up to the November elections.
But the fact that the U.S. has not suffered a second attack similar to Sept. 11 is the strongest indication that the nation is winning the war against terrorism.
The intelligence community, Sen. Chambliss said, is doing a better job than ever before.
He said his is not suggesting there cannot be another attack. However, Sen. Chambliss said, it is important to note that the intelligence and law enforcement communities have disrupted a number of potential attacks.
There is still a long way to go in the war on terrorism, Sen. Chambliss said, and there will be direct and indirect consequences for the insurance industry.
But he said he is optimistic about the job being done from both intelligence and law enforcement standpoints.
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