Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3370) to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, and for other purposes, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I ask…
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3370) to delay the implementation of certain provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, and for other purposes, as amended.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials for the Record on H.R. 3370, as amended, currently under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act.
Last Congress, overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate, including all of my colleagues from West Virginia, voted for the passage of Biggert-Waters. There was near unanimous agreement that significant reforms were needed for the program, but when the new flood insurance rates were published last fall, I began to hear from, and met with, many West Virginians who were shocked by the increases in their flood insurance bills that had far exceeded the worst-case scenario in CBO's projection. In some cases, their only choice was to spend their life's savings on their flood insurance bills or walk away from their house, ruining their credit.
The bill before us today will make sure the people who purchased a home after the passage of Biggert-Waters, only to see their premiums skyrocket, can stay in their homes. Under this bill, homeowners will see their premiums rise towards an actuarially sound rate, but on a path that is much more affordable.
Additionally, we are taking steps to fix some of the mapping issues in the flood program. Many of my constituents have told me that they are in a Special Flood Hazard Area, despite no evidence of the area ever flooding. These two issues address the core problems of the flood insurance program: unaffordable rates and incorrect mapping.
There is no question that the NFIP is broken. We need to take steps to put it
on solid financial footing, but immediately hitting people with crushing increases in their premiums just because they bought a new home is not the way to do it, and that was never the original intent of Biggert-Waters.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Grimm), the author of this legislation and someone without whose hard work we wouldn't be here today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), the chairman of the full committee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer), the chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee on the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. King), a member of the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo).
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo).
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana, Dr. Cassidy, one of the champions of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), a great advocate for this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Buchanan) for his hard work.
Mr. Speaker, next I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), a great advocate for this bill and for his State.
Mr. Speaker, can you tell me how much time is remaining on both sides?
Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, but I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member, Ms. Waters, for her hard work on this and Mr. Grimm, Dr. Cassidy, and all the speakers we have had today here on both sides. We can work together to fix a definite problem, but I think we need to kind of reflect back on how did we get to this problem. We were trying to fix a bigger problem, the $24 billion hole that the Flood Insurance Program has created because of mismanagement and not looking at it correctly.
Over 400 of us voted for that bill. So we did not realize at the time the data that we were given by FEMA gave us a certain ceiling that certain folks' premiums could rise, and as we have heard today from everybody, Republicans and Democrats, no matter where you live in the country, some of the premium escalation has just been incredible. So I am proud that we are working together.
I mentioned West Virginia. We flood a lot in West Virginia. We have got a lot of hills and hollows. Richard in St. Albans came to me in October of last year. He had just bought a home before they put the new FEMA rates into effect. He thought he was going to be paying a little over $1,000 in his flood insurance program on a $150,000 house. Guess what? $14,000 was the rate that he was going to have to pay. He said:
I am just going to walk away. I will get foreclosed on.
This is my dream home.
So for Richard, that is why I think all of this is important today, and for all the other Richards out there across the country who have had sticker shock, who haven't been able to cope, who have been very upset about this and wondering, Is anybody really going to help me here?
So what I think we have learned today is whatever the scenario is, whether you are in a mountain situation by a river or if you are in an urban area in New York or if you are in Florida, that these problems were deep, expensive, and discouraging, and people were unable to understand a way out. I think that is what we are giving them today.
Many of the reforms that were built into the first Biggert-Waters bill still remain. We are refining those to make sure they make common sense. We are making sure that folks around the country can afford the homes that they have bought with the flood insurance and then get them on a glide path towards the sustainability of not just their home but also the program in general.
So I am proud of the efforts that all of us working together have had here today. I would like to encourage the other body to pass this. It is not going to work unless we get the Presidential signature that we need to make sure that we get the real relief that people need and deserve.
So with that, I yield back the balance of my time.