Today, Monday, November 18, 2019,  U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) helped pass the bipartisan, long-term reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which was set to expire next year. Gottheimer, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, was an original cosponsor of the bipartisan legislation that passed the House today on a 385 to 22 vote, reauthorizing the federal government’s terrorism insurance backstop for seven more years.

The original TRIA legislation was signed into law in the aftermath of the devastating September 11 terrorist attacks, which resulted in the largest insured losses from a non-natural disaster on record — $45 billion in current dollars.

“This bipartisan bill passing the House today is a win for North Jersey, a win for the people of the Fifth District, and a win for our safety and economy,” Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) said today. “This reauthorization of our nation’s terrorism insurance backstop is particularly important to North Jersey, where we have a high population density, important landmarks, and major infrastructure, like bridges, tunnels, highways, and rail — all of which contribute to our state facing a higher relative risk of terrorism. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, terrorism risk insurance became completely unavailable or extremely unaffordable, which had negative repercussions across our region’s economy that hindered recovery efforts. Thankfully, the House just voted to help insurers offer terrorism risk insurance affordably and protect residents and businesses in North Jersey.”

Following 9/11, terrorism risk insurance coverage became either unavailable or incredibly expensive. TRIA corrected this market failure and now keeps terrorism insurance coverage affordable and available by creating a federal backstop in the event of other terrorist attacks. TRIA protects our economy from the costs of a terrorist attack and provides security for businesses of all sizes, hospitals, schools, and major landmarks.

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