Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. President, I understand Senator Toomey and Senator Menendez will be coming to the floor to have the last 10 minutes of this debate, so I wish to take a moment to come to the floor to thank all of my colleagues who helped so much, particularly in the early days--a year and a half ago--to help make this bill possible today. This truly was a team effort, and I really appreciate the compliments from my colleagues about the leadership I provided, and I am happy to do so. Believe me, this never would have happened without a great team that was built to spread the word about the disastrous consequences of a law that had good intentions but with horrific ramifications on people all over the country. Because this is not just a coastal issue that affects New Jersey, the State of the Presiding Officer, and my State of Louisiana, we had some extraordinary Senators step up, such as Senator Heitkamp, such as Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia--not an ocean around or in sight. We had other Senators step up who do not have coastlines but who have States and subdivisions and communities and cities and rural areas that are in desperate need of a strong, good, solid, affordable, and sustainable flood insurance package for this country--a flood insurance program.
Some people thought that is what we were getting with Biggert-Waters, but it soon became clear, literally before the ink was dry, that it wasn't going to work. Sometimes mistakes are made and when they are, we have to step up and fix them as quickly as possible. It has taken us longer than it should have because some Senators have not had an open mind or an open heart. They have not dealt in the best of faith, but despite all of that, we are here today because a number of Senators stood up.
I wish to read their names into the Record: Senator Thad Cochran from Mississippi, Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon, Senator John Hoeven from North Dakota, Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina, Senator Heidi Heitkamp from North Dakota, Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi, Senator Vitter from Louisiana, Senator Chuck Schumer was a particularly strong leader, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, as well as Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, who were early supporters of this bill; Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, Senator Rubio of Florida--and particularly Senator Nelson who got on this bill early and began educating people not only in Florida but around the country; Senator Al Franken from Minnesota, Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, another Senator who has no ocean, but Pennsylvania has I think the most new FEMA maps of any State in the Union. The people of Pennsylvania would really be affected if our bill doesn't pass. Even the amendment that is being offered by one of the Senators does not solve their problem and it is unfortunate, and I hope people will vote strongly against the Toomey amendment; Senator Kay Hagan from North Carolina; of course, yours truly in the Chair, Senator Cory Booker, who came on early and was a huge supporter as soon as he got here. I think this was one of the first bills he cosponsored and I couldn't be more grateful, and I know the people of New Jersey are grateful for his leadership; Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, Senator Susan Collins from Maine, and Senator Debbie Stabenow from Michigan; obviously, Senator Menendez has been our leader on the Democratic side, and we would not be where we are today without his leadership.
We would not be where we are today without the commitment of Senator Harry Reid who recognizes he has a flooding problem as well and that this is not just a coastal issue. He stood up early to tell us that if we could build a strong coalition, if we could build 60-plus votes, he would help us get to a point where we could actually have a debate on amendments, vote them up or down, and then move this bill, with the strongest vote possible, to the House of Representatives, where I am proud to say there are 131 cosponsors on this bill. That number is growing every day. As people hear about what is happening and begin to understand, as they get notices from their insurance companies--which, by the way, are taking 30 percent of every policy off the top and assuming virtually no risk, which is an issue we have to address; it is not addressed in this bill--but as people begin to understand, they are going to be clamoring for real change. They will want something that helps taxpayers for it to be sustainable, that addresses the climate issues that are affecting this program, that helps middle-class homeowners be able, as Senator Schumer said, to stay in their homes and not lose all the equity they have literally worked for not only their entire lives but potentially for two generations of work which has gone into building equity--sometimes three generations of work have gone into building equity in homes--just for a misguided piece of legislation to swipe away from them, in the blink of an eye, their homes' value.
So I hope people will vote strongly against the Toomey amendment. A vote for the Toomey amendment will signal a vote against our efforts for reform. He will say his efforts are to reform, that it will only allow raises of 25 percent a year. There is no cap on his bill. There are no requirements for an affordability study. There are no requirements for accurate FEMA mapping. His bill is a red herring and a distraction from what we are trying to do.
Senator Johnny Isakson on the Republican side deserves so much credit for organizing his team.
I also recognize the minority leader, the Senator from Kentucky, for his help in getting us to this point, and I thank him.
I also want to thank a very important group which is GNO, Inc.--Greater New Orleans, Inc.--which is a 16-parish economic coalition in our State, made up of parish presidents and elected officials and university presidents, that really focuses on the economic vitality of our region. Michael Hetch is the executive director--an extremely talented young leader. They recognized immediately, as I brought to their attention the problems with Biggert-Waters, the disaster it would be to the 16 parishes they represent. Not only did they step up and help us organize all of our 16 parishes, but they began immediately to reach out to New Jersey and to New York and to Pennsylvania and to California and to Oregon--to reach out to the bankers and the realtors. That began an extraordinary development of a very strong coalition. I thank them for their leadership.
I thank the National Association of Realtors and the National Homebuilders Association, NACo. The president of NACo--the National Association of Counties--was in my office on several occasions working very hard with elected officials all over the country to raise the flag about this issue and to say it is time to take a pause on Biggert-Waters--not a complete repeal; not moving back on our reforms, but to take a pause to get it right.
It is important to get this right. There are too many homes that will be lost, too many families impacted, too many businesses hurt, too many communities that will see a downward spiral from a housing market that is just now recovering after a very difficult national recession.
I thank the National League of Cities, the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. I really want to thank them.
There are hundreds of other smaller organizations--neighborhood groups, I am sure, from New Jersey to New York, including Louisiana homeowners groups, that have spoken and are educating people about this challenge. But in a Congress where it is hard to come to a consensus on singing happy birthday to one of our Members, which is unfortunate today, this is a real accomplishment for such a broad, deep, and strong coalition--bipartisan, bicoastal--to come together and pass a bill that will bring relief to millions and millions of families.
This will be a great victory today. I believe we will have a strong vote in the Senate. I am confident of that. But we have work to do. This bill has to go to the House. Maxine Waters and Congressman Grimm from New York are leading this effort. We need all the Senators to talk with their delegations in the House and get them to really step up. We need a lot of communication to the Speaker to say: Mr. Speaker, this cannot wait. There is already too much time, too much anxiety, too many real estate agents being put out of business, too many for-sale signs coming down, too many people making decisions because they have lost equity in their home. It is time to fix this problem now, and we can.
I thank Senator Merkley, who will be the subcommittee chair as this sort of new reform is written. And finally, I thank again Senator Menendez and Senator Isakson for their extraordinary knowledge of this subject, their leadership, and helping us get to the point where we are.
I do not see any other colleagues on the floor. When I do, I will yield the floor. I understand Senator Toomey and Senator Menendez are going to come to close out this debate. But I do want to say again that the Biggert-Waters bill was built backwards and upside down. It authorized immediate rate increases on responsible homeowners without any understanding of how it would impact their individual policies.
I want to also say this, Mr. President--and I think you have heard me speak about this both publicly and we have talked privately--the people in Louisiana who have been the victims and survivors of massive hurricanes and storms and levee breaks are well aware of the weather changes. We accept it as a reality. We are building our levees as fast as we can, with very little help over time. Now, after emergencies, the Federal Government comes in with a lot of money, but year in and year out we are having a very hard time getting any infrastructure from the Corps of Engineers budget, which is woefully underfunded for the whole country. And the Presiding Officer knows that because his communities suffer as well.
We are building levees as fast as we can with a lot of our own money and a lot of our own tax dollars. We are raising our homes as fast as we can, elevating them. We are putting in new zoning, and people are very mindful of not developing low-lying areas. But we have to have policies that are well thought out and well balanced to accommodate communities that have literally been here for 300 years.
New Orleans will be celebrating its 300th birthday in just a few years from now, in 2018. This is not about a group of people who went down there 20 years ago for Sun and for vacation. This is about people who came 300 years ago to secure the mouth of the greatest river system in North America and one of the greatest river systems in the world.
This is not fun and games. This is work and empowerment and wealth building and opportunity that the President talked about the other day. That is what this bill is about.
We need to start with building a flood program, partnershipped with the private sector, that works for average, middle-class families. We do not have that, and we are going to get the first step toward that today.
I see my colleagues on the floor, so I am going to yield the floor. I know the time has been set aside. When we vote on the Toomey amendment, please vote a strong no. When we vote on final passage, please vote a strong yes. There are a few other amendments Senators Isakson and Menendez will speak to more directly, as we wrap up this debate today.
I yield the floor.
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