House Panel Defies White House on TRIA

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a 15-year extension of the federal government's terrorism insurance program along with changes to expand the coverage, which the Bush administration opposes.The bill to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act would require insurance companies to offer coverage for nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological acts of terrorism for the first time. The TRIA bill (H.R. 2761) also eliminates the distinction between foreign and domestic acts of terrorism. "We strongly oppose this bill," said Treasury Assistant Secretary David Nason. The administration, which wants the TRIA program to remain a temporary federal backstop for private insurers in case of major terrorist attack, would prefer a bill with a two-year extension and no expansion in coverage. Congress extended TRIA in 2005, and it expires at the end of this year.