September 17, 2019

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS:

The undersigned organizations, representing a wide variety of business interests, urge Congress to work swiftly to pass a long-term reauthorization of the Risk Act (TRIA) which is currently set to expire at the end of 2020.

The tragic terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, fundamentally changed the landscape for insuring against the risk of terrorism in the United States. Struck with an inability to model frequency, location, and the potentially devastating scale of modern terrorism, insurers were forced to pull out of the marketplace, and in the months following the attacks, the inability of insurance policyholders to secure terrorism risk insurance contributed to a paralysis in the economy, especially in the construction, travel and tourism, and real estate finance sectors.

Since its initial enactment in 2002, TRIA has served as a vital public-private risk sharing mechanism, ensuring that private terrorism risk insurance coverage remains available to commercial businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations at virtually no cost to the taxpayer. According to a 2019 Marsh study, the education, media, financial institutions, real estate, hospitality and gaming, and health care sectors had the highest 'take-up' rates among the 17 industry segments surveyed – all above 70%. TRIA fosters certainty in the marketplace and allows all of these interconnected elements of the economy to continue to move forward.

In 2018, the Treasury Department reported that “the Program has made terrorism risk insurance available and affordable in the United States, and the market for terrorism risk insurance has been relatively stable for the past decade.” Absent TRIA, there is not sufficient insurance and capital available to provide comprehensive terrorism coverage to U.S. insurance buyers.

To this end, the undersigned organizations urge Congress to promptly enact a “clean” long-term extension of this vital program. Previous reforms to the program have minimized taxpayer exposure making further reforms unnecessary. In fact, the key “dials” are already effectively indexed to premium growth at both the company and industry level, and the federal share will continue to decrease in future years even if Congress makes no changes to the program beyond a simple change of the expiration date.

Making changes to the TRIA mechanism to increase insurer retentions could affect the ability of many insurers, particularly smaller and mid-sized companies, to write risks or markets altogether, which ultimately impacts the ability of policyholders to secure adequate coverage. Maintaining a workable federal terrorism insurance mechanism is vital for our nation’s economic security, and without adequate coverage, our ability to mitigate further economic fallout in the event of an attack would be greatly impaired. There is no homeland security without economic security.

The American business community remembers all too well the twelve-day lapse in the program in early 2015 and the disruption that lapse played in a variety of markets. We urge Congress to help provide much needed certainty by passing a long-term reauthorization of this important program without delay.

Sincerely,

A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Companies Argo Group ACIG Insurance Company Arrow Mutual Company Alliance Security Associated General Contractors of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty America American Association of Port Authorities Associated Wire Rope Fabricators American Bankers Association Association of American Railroads American Council of Engineering Atlantic Charter Insurance Company Companies AvalonBay Communites Inc. American Council on Education AXA XL American Family Insurance Ballard Spahr LLP American Gaming Association Barron Mutual Insurance Company American Property Association Barton Mutual Insurance Company American Public Power Association Beacon Capital Partners, LLC American Resort Development Beaver Creek Mutual Insurance Company Association Benton Mutual Insurance Association American Short Line and Regional Black Hawk Mutual Insurance Company Railroad Association Bloomfield Mutual Insurance Company Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Boise Metro Chamber Aon Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce Apache Junction Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center Boston Properties ARCTRUST Bradford Victor-Adams Mutual Insurance Community Insurance Company Company Co-operative Insurance Companies Bremer Mutual Insurance Association Corporate Office Properties Trust Broad Reach Retail Partners, LLC Cousins Properties Brookfield Properties Decatur Chamber of Commerce Broome Co-operative Insurance Company CRE Finance Council Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company CSX Buckeye Valley Chamber of Commerce Cumberland Mutual Fire Insurance Bucksbaum Properties Company Builders Mutual Insurance Company CUNA Mutual Group California Association of Boutique & Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Breakfast Inns Davis Chamber of Commerce California Hotel & Lodging Association Donahue Schriber Realty Group Camarillo Chamber of Commerce Draper Area Chamber of Commerce CapSpecialty Dundee Mutual Insurance Company CCIM Institute Dunham & Chemung Mutual Insurance Celina Mutual Insurance Company Company Central Illinois Mutual Insurance East Tennessee Mutual Insurance Company Company Century Mutual Insurance Association Eastern Iowa Mutual Insurance Association Chautauqua Patrons Insurance Company EastGroup Properties Chester County Chamber Edison Electric Institute Chubb Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of CM Group Commerce CNA Financial El Centro Chamber of Commerce Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce (CIAT) Electric Insurance Company Columbia Insurance Group Erie Insurance Community Associations Institute Essex Property Trust, Inc. Extra Space Storage Frederick Mutual Insurance Company Falls City Mutual Insurance Company Gallagher Real Estate & Hospitality Inc. Services Farmers Home Fire Insurance Company General Reinsurance Corporation of West Virginia, Inc. German-American Farm Mutual Farmers Company Insurance Company Farmers Insurance Company of Gilroy Chamber of Commerce Flemington Governmental Interinsurance Exchange Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company Grange Insurance of Marble Great American Insurance Group Farmers Mutual Insurance Company Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Farmers Mutual Insurance Company Commerce Manchester Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Farmers Pioneer Mutual Insurance Commerce Company Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Farmers Protective Mutual Insurance Commerce Company Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company (AR) Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company (ND) Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Farmers’ and Mechanics’ Mutual Greater Springfield Chamber of Insurance Company Commerce Farmland Partners Inc. Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce First Maxfield Mutual Insurance Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company Association Hamel Mutual Insurance Company Food Marketing Institute Hamlet Mutual Insurance Company Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association (FEDA) Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce Forreston Mutual Insurance Company Harding & Perkins Farm Mutual Insurance Company Forward Mutual Insurance Company Harford Mutual Insurance Company Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Company Hawaii Employers Mutual Insurance Island Insurance Companies Company Jo Daviess Mutual Insurance Company Heritage Mutual Insurance Association Kane County Mutual Insurance Company Hilton Kilroy Realty Corporation Hochheim Prairie Farm Mutual Insurance Kite Realty Association Lake Havasu Area Chamber of Commerce Horse Prairie Mutual Insurance Company Lamar Advertising Company Host Hotels & Resorts Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Hotel Association of Los Angeles LaPrairie Mutual Insurance Company Household & Commercial Products Association Laredo Chamber of Commerce Hueneme Chamber of Commerce Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce Humboldt Mutual Insurance Association Lexington Chamber of Commerce Hutensky Capital Partners Liberty Mutual Insurance International Council of Shopping Centers Liberty Property Trust (ICSC) Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce IFG Companies Lititz Mutual Insurance Company Illinois Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Livingston Mutual Insurance Company Illinois Chamber of Commerce Lloyd's of London IMT Insurance Company Lodi Chamber of Commerce Independence Realty Trust Loews Hotels & Co Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce of America Long Beach Hospitality Alliance Indiana Chamber of Commerce Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Innovative Signal Analysis Lubbock Chamber of Commerce International Franchise Association LWD Inc. International Speedway Corporation Major League Baseball (MLB) International Safety Equipment Marana Chamber of Commerce Association Marriott International Marshalltown Area Chamber of National Association for Stock Car Auto Commerce Racing (NASCAR) Medical Properties Trust, Inc. National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Mendota Mutual Insurance Company National Association of Home Builders Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company National Association of Mutual Insurance Merchants Mutual Insurance Company Companies (NAMIC) Mesa Chamber of Commerce National Association of Professional MetLife Employer Organizations MFS Mutual Insurance Company National Association of REALTORS® MGM Resorts International National Association of Surety Bond Producers Mid-State Farmers Mutual Insurance Company National Association of Wholesaler- Distributors Millers Mutual Group National Black Chamber of Commerce Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation National Electrical Contractors Association Mortgage Bankers Association National Fire & Casualty Company Mound Prairie Mutual Insurance Company National Fire & Indemnity Exchange Mower County Farmers Mutual Insurance National Hockey League Company National Investor Relations Institute MS & AD Insurance Group National Multifamily Housing Council Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. National Restaurant Association Muscatine Mutual Insurance Association National Retail Federation Mutual of Indiana Insurance Company National Rural Electric Mutual of Wausau Group Association NAMA—The National Automatic National Waste & Recycling Association Merchandising Association Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance National Association of Real Estate Company Investment Trusts (Nareit) New Prague-Ceska-Louisville Mutual National Apartment Association Insurance Company New Vienna Mutual Insurance Peru Waltham Mutual Insurance Association Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Group Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance PMA Companies Company Poweshiek Mutual Insurance Association North Country Chamber of Commerce Prescott Valley Chamber of Commerce North Orange County Chamber Prophetstown Farmers Mutual Insurance North Star Mutual Insurance Company Company Northern Finnish Mutual Insurance Rayonier, Inc. Company Real Estate Board of New York Norwegian Mutual Insurance Association Regional Chamber of Commerce - San Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Gabriel Valley Oakwood Mutual Insurance Company Reinsurance Association of America Ohio Mutual Insurance Group Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce OneBeacon Insurance Group, LLC Restoration Risk Retention Group, Inc. Orthopaedic Research Society Riverton Chamber of Commerce Oxnard Chamber of Commerce Rockford Mutual Insurance Company Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce Rolling Meadows Chamber Park Hotels & Resorts Rudin Management Company, Inc. Partnership for New York City Safety National Casualty Corp. Pasadena Chamber of Commerce Safety Specialty Insurance Company Patriot Insurance Company San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership Pella Mutual Insurance Company Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Penn Charter Mutual Insurance Company Seaview Investors LLC Penn National Insurance SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and SECURA Insurance Companies Industry Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Commerce and Tourism Information Insurance Company Seneca, Sigel Mutual Insurance Company Peoples Mutual Insurance Association Sentry Insurance Taubman Centers Shelbyville Mutual Insurance Company Tenaska Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange Shopping Center Interests, LLC The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce The Chamber of Medford/Jackson County Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers Society Insurance, A Mutual Company The Durst Organization South Jordan Chamber of Commerce The Gray Insurance Company Southeast Mutual Insurance Company The Hanover Insurance Company Southern Company The Hartford Southwest California Legislative Council The Macerich Company Southwest Iowa Mutual Insurance Association The MEMIC Group Spirit Realty Capital The Philadelphia Contributionship Spring Vale Mutual Insurance Company The Port Authority of New York, New Jersey Starr Companies The Real Estate Roundtable Steele Traill County Mutual Insurance Company The Taubman Company Stephenson County Mutual Insurance The Travelers Companies, Inc. Company The Victor Chamber of Commerce Sterling Insurance Company The Walt Disney Company Stirling Properties, LLC Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce STORE Capital Tucson Metro Chamber Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce Tulsa Regional Chamber Svea Mutual Insurance Company U.S. Chamber of Commerce Sverdrup Mutual Insurance Company U.S. Travel Association Swiss Re Americas UDR, Inc. Tama County Mutual Insurance UJA-Federation of New York Association United Mutual Insurance Company University Risk Management and Insurance Association, Inc. (URMIA) Upland Mutual Insurance, Inc. Utica First Insurance Company Utica National Insurance Group Valley Mutual Insurance Association W. R. Berkley Corporation Watseka Mutual Insurance Company Wayne Mutual Insurance Company Weingarten Realty Investor Welltower, Inc. Western Iowa Mutual Insurance Association Western National Mutual Insurance Company Westfield Westfield insurance Company Westminster American Insurance Company Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association Wisconsin Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Zurich North America