Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007

Floor Speech

FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - September 27, 2007)

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Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, of all the irresponsible, bad ideas cooked up by the liberal leadership of the House, this has to be the blue ribbon boondoggle champion of bad ideas. This exposes the U.S. Treasury and the American taxpayers to a potential liability of up to $19 trillion of property from Maine to the Gulf Coast States. The flood insurance program is already, as we have heard, about, I believe, $20 billion in debt already, the flood insurance is already underfunded, and yet we are going through this legislation, if it passes, expose the American taxpayers to untold billion dollars worth of liability every year. And this is a public-private partnership. As my friend RANDY NEUGEBAUER of Texas pointed out, the insurance companies on the private sector's part are going to collect the premiums and the American taxpayers are going to pay the bill.

This is, I believe, one of the most dangerous and fiscally irresponsible pieces of legislation ever brought to the floor of the House probably in history, and certainly sets a blue ribbon record for the liberal leadership of this House.

We need to all remember as guardians of the Treasury that the American taxpayers are already facing individually, according to the Government Accountability Office, every living American would have to buy $170,000 worth of Treasury bills today just to pay off the existing liabilities of the Federal Government, both direct and indirect. And it is unconscionable, it is absolutely intolerable that this Congress, this liberal leadership of this House would attempt to pass on to my daughter and our kids a potential liability reaching $19 trillion. It is unacceptable, it is outrageous, and I hope this House will soundly defeat this utterly irresponsible piece of legislation.

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Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to ask the author of the amendment and the author of the legislation, if they are here, if they could identify, please, for the Record, other than Social Security and Medicare, can you all identify any piece of legislation that has ever exposed the American taxpayer to greater potential liability than this bill before the House today? Can you all identify a bigger boondoggle than this one? And you can have some of my time. I will yield. Can anyone on that side identify a bigger boondoggle than this that will expose the taxpayers to greater liability?

Mr. CARDOZA. I would say there are several Republican boondoggles that we have seen in the last few years.

Mr. CULBERSON. Please name one.

Mr. CARDOZA. The drug program. The unheard of tax cuts that were not paid for. There have been several things that have exposed the American Treasury to boondoggles, and they have been authored by the gentleman's party.

Mr. CULBERSON. Tax cuts pay for themselves by growth in the economy.

Mr. CARDOZA. That is not what the Congressional Budget Office says.

Mr. CULBERSON. Reclaiming my time. When people have more of their own money to spend, the economy grows because they invest and we are rewarding people for hard work and productive behavior.

Other than Social Security and Medicare, which are noble, good programs that have helped this Nation, other than those two, has there ever been a piece of legislation exposing the American taxpayer to greater potential liability than this boondoggle that you are putting before the House today? And I gladly yield some of my time, Mr. Taylor. Can you identify a bigger boondoggle than this one?

Mr. TAYLOR. Sure. No more than I challenge the question as to whether or not this is a boondoggle. We have recognized a problem; we are addressing it in a means that pays for itself.

On the other hand, when the Republican majority controlled this House, they brought a prescription drug benefit to the floor.

Mr. CULBERSON. Which I voted against.

Mr. TAYLOR. Which increased the liability of the taxpayers for over $1 trillion and had no funding mechanism. And then they held the vote open for 3 hours to twist arms to pass it. So, sir, that is it.

Mr. CULBERSON. Reclaiming my time. The Republican leadership might have bent the rules to give American seniors a drug benefit; but we didn't break the rules and steal a vote, as you all did, to give illegal aliens access to Federal benefits. And that shows the difference in priorities, I would point out.

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Mr. CULBERSON. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to ask the author of the amendment if she'd be willing to accept an amendment that we also ask the GAO to examine the effects on the taxpayers of the United States of all the perils created by this legislation and the financial risk this exposes the taxpayers too, because, again I think it's vitally important for this House to recognize that the potential liability this legislation exposes the taxpayer to, as Mr. Baker said earlier, there's about $19 trillion worth of insurable property around the coast of the United States. The flood insurance program's already $20 billion in debt, and the United States, according to the GAO, already faces potential liabilities, direct and indirect, not potential, direct and indirect liabilities of $50 trillion.

That works out to $170,000 per person. Every household in the United States would have to buy $440,000 worth of T bills today just to pay for the explicit and implicit liabilities of the United States.

And, finally, I would just remind the majority of something that my hero Thomas Jefferson said in his first inaugural address because of repeated attempts, this majority has shut out all amendments by the minority. Thomas Jefferson said that although the rule of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that rule to be rightful must be reasonable and must always protect the rights of the minority, which this majority has not done.

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Mr. CULBERSON. I am glad we are considering this amendment to have FEMA give us a comprehensive report of the problems facing the flood insurance program. We already established that this legislation, in essence, is going to create a public-private partnership in which the insurance companies are going to collect the premium and the taxpayers are going to pay the bill. We have already established, as Mr. Baker pointed out earlier, that there is potentially $19 trillion worth of valuation of property out there along the coastlines that are, again, a risk that the taxpayers are assuming. The TRIA legislation, Terrorism Risk Insurance legislation that the liberal leadership of this House pushed through last week puts taxpayers potentially on the hook for $100 billion.

I wanted, if I could, to just get an answer to my question in the time that I have got. Other than Social Security and Medicare and not counting the Mars program that the chairman mentioned, because there is no such program, can the chairman or anyone else on that side identify a single piece of legislation that has created a bigger potential risk to the taxpayers than this bill? This, I won't say boondoggle, but this piece of legislation creates potentially trillions of dollars worth of liability. Is there any piece of legislation you can identify other than Social Security or Medicare that creates potentially trillions of dollars worth of liability to the taxpayers?

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Mr. CULBERSON. In response to the distinguished chairman's point that the legislation requires that the program be actuarially sound, that is true that is in the bill that you produced here. However, the law also requires that the flood insurance program be actuarially sound. It is $20 billion in debt. The legislation before the House asked the Federal Government, the taxpayers, to assume a potential liability for the $19 trillion worth of insured property, a valuation of property just along the coastline. It is important to remember that the taxpayers of the United States are already facing liability of $50.5 trillion according to the Government Accountability Office. It is just irresponsible. It is dangerous to pass legislation like this, creating a massive new expansion of an existing program that is already $20 billion in debt at a time when the country faces massive debt and massive deficits. It is just irresponsible and dangerous.

I wanted to point out to the House and to the people out there listening, Mr. Chairman, that this legislation is fiscally irresponsible. It is dangerous.

Mr. Chairman, I urge the House to defeat it. It is a bad idea to pass on the liability like this to the taxpayers.

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Mr. CULBERSON. This is a brand new liability that we are passing on to my daughter and to the children of America, to the people of the United States who are already saddled with $15.5 trillion worth of liability, and it is just irresponsible. It is unacceptable. It is outrageous to create a massive new program like this that if it passes that could create, potentially, liability in the trillions of dollars. That is my point. There has never been a more expensive nor more massive creation of potential liability to the taxpayers than this legislation before the House today. That is my point.

Mr. Chairman, I urge every Member who cares about the fiscal solvency of the United States to vote ``no'' against this legislation.

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