Sources said that the conference call began with a statement from Mr. Rove that the Bush Administration remains committed to passing legislation. He noted that the House has passed a bill that would establish a federal loan program to assist insurers following a major terrorist event. These sources noted that Mr. Rove stressed the need for the affected industries to pick up where they left off in the Senate, which recessed without approving legislation.

However, these sources said, the Treasury Department officials who spoke next were more cautionary. They said that Congress must hear from their constituents that problems exist in the marketplace, the industry sources noted.

Reportedly, representatives of the real estate industry said that they are seeing fallout from the failure of Congress to act. One representative said that “trophy properties” are generally on hold until the issue is resolved. Another said that “deals are not getting done.”

However, a representative of the New York Board of Real Estate reportedly said that there is a reluctance to go public because of concerns that doing so would dampen the market even further.

Mr. Rove reportedly responded that it is not necessary to have a news conference or an advertising campaign. Rather, he reportedly said, members of Congress need to hear those comments directly.

But Treasury officials reportedly added that if the only people pushing for legislation are the insurance industry and owners of skyscrapers in New York, it will not be enough, according to sources. The Treasury officials reportedly said they need hard, specific, concrete examples of problems in the other states that go beyond the “trophy properties.”

One source said it might be difficult making that type of case to Congress. “If we have to get Joes Garage to contact his member of Congress and complain, we are in trouble,” this source said.

The upshot of the conference call, the sources agreed, is that the Bush Administration still regards terrorism reinsurance as a serious issue. The White House said it is willing to work to get a bill enacted, but emphasized that it is up to the industry to make its case to Congress.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, January 14, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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