By John Blosser
With just two days to go before failure to pass a spending bill will mandate a government shutdown on Friday, a congressional squabble threatens to scuttle the whole deal.
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), passed after 9/11 by Congress to allow government to back up insurance companies in the event of a catastrophic terrorism attack, is at the center of an argument which could derail passage of the spending bill, The Hill reports.
House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, wants to remove a provision in the expiring TRIA act that requires non-financial firms to follow the same rules as banking institutions, but his proposal has run afoul of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and other Democrats who feel that would run counter to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Law, The Hill notes.
A senior Democrat aide told Roll Call: "This is an attempt to kill the bill, pure and simple. Adding in an extraneous, unrelated Dodd-Frank issue that Democrats and the administration oppose to a bipartisan TRIA bill that has been carefully negotiated puts the future of TRIA in doubt."
However, a Republican aide told Roll Call: "The Democrats’ ideological and irrational zeal for Dodd-Frank is holding up a long-term reauthorization of TRIA. Our side is trying to get a clarification — not a change — on Dodd-Frank’s treatment of manufacturers, ranchers and farmers.
"Even (former Rep.) Barney Frank and (former Sen.) Chris Dodd tried to clarify during colloquies that Congress never intended to impose margin requirements on end-user derivatives transactions.”
The House is attempting to separate the TRIA legislation from the budget bill, Roll Call notes, to be acted on as a separate bill.
After the 9/11 attack's $23 billion in damages, private insurers were refusing to cover terrorism act insurance, which put virtually all financing for major construction projects on hold. Under the terms of TRIA, if a certified terrorist attack exceeds $100 million, the law kicks in, with private insurers repaying taxpayers on the first $27.5 million of damages, Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation, wrote in Forbes.
"Because in this post-9/11 era our economy faces increased risk from terrorism, TRIA reauthorization should be a priority for action before close of Congress," Giovanetti wrote.
Roll Call termed the House Republicans' move "a gambit to jam the Senate," adding, "with the House and Senate unable to come to a compromise on TRIA, House Republicans are hoping they can force the Senate’s hand by passing the terrorism risk insurance legislation with their Dodd-Frank changes.
"But as of Tuesday afternoon, it was unclear whether such a tactic would work — or whether it would derail TRIA."
Should the TRIA conflict derail the spending bill, The Hill notes, it "could force Congress to move a short-term measure to keep the government open for a few days."