In the House, Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Teaxs) wanted to scale TRIA back more, and put it on a path toward being phased out. He came up with his own bill that would do that and passed it out of his committee. The only problem was that Rep. Hensarling's bill lacked the votes to pass out of the full House. As a result, the House leadership would not schedule a floor vote on it.

The Senate had already passed a mostly straightforward seven-year TRIA reauthorization (ironically, by the same 93-4 vote that it would pass a six-year renewal seven months later, in the new 114th Congress).

With the Senate firmly on board and Rep. Hensarling's bill getting no traction, negotiations began between the House and Senate, which resulted in a rare bipartisan agreement on a bill for a long-term reauthorization. This compromise provided for a six-year reauthorization, a slightly raised trigger level and other minor tweaks to the law. Notably, it included a provision creating the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB), which was in both the Senate bill and Rep. Hensarling's legislation.

In December, the House passed the bipartisan compromise 417-7—but then it hit a brick wall on the Senate side, in the person of retiring Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn (R).

In the Marx Brothers' 1932 movie "Horse Feathers," Groucho Marx sang a song entitled, "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!" This could have been the theme song of Sen. Coburn, as he objected to numerous bills in the final days of his tenure. On TRIA, he would not be placated. Coburn wanted an opt-out for states to join NARAB or an amendment that would sunset NARAB, requiring a reauthorization after two years.

The Oklahoma Republican also expressed a lack of concern for TRIA, saying at one point, "Quite frankly, I don't care whether TRIA happens or not."

When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attempted to bring the bill up for a vote, Coburn blocked it by objecting. Rather than staying in session for several additional days for complicated procedural maneuvers to overcome the objection, the Senate threw in the towel, adjourned for the year and the bill died.

Success in New Congress
With a new year came the new 114^th Congress, which wasted no time accomplishing what the previous Congress failed to do.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the incoming Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged quick action, and both leaders came through on their promise. The House passed the same bill it had passed in December on January 7 by a vote of 416-5, with NARAB included, and the Senate—without the now-retired Senator Coburn—passed the bill 93-4 the next day. President Obama signed the bill on January 12 and it became law January 14.

Additional evidence of the continuing threat of terrorist attacks came early on the morning of January 7—just before the House voted – when two masked gunmen armed with assault rifles and other weapons forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, killing 12 people and injuring eleven others during their attack. Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen took responsibility.

Congress' inability to complete its work in December led to a lapse in the terrorism insurance program for two weeks, during which the world saw a vivid reminder that terrorism is still a threat.

Now that NARAB will become a reality, we must work together to ensure that the startup process for the association goes smoothly. NARAB is intended to facilitate reciprocity in producer licensing without creating a new federal insurance bureaucracy. Therefore, PIA will work with our partners to ensure that the law creating NARAB is properly implemented. An important part of this is to ensure that the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) has nothing to do with it, since it is statutorily prohibited from functioning in any way as an insurance regulator.  

Prospects for the Future
Extension of the terrorism insurance program should have been a slam-dunk. But as with anything that is truly worthwhile, it took a lot of hard work.

A broad, nationwide coalition, of which PIA was a part, engaged in a coordinated advocacy campaign that lasted for more than a year. This coalition extended far beyond the insurance industry to include businesses, state and local governments, non-profit organizations and a host of other diverse groups.

This sustained, cooperative effort is what led to success. Which raises a question: Can this forging of bipartisan consensus serve as a template for dealing with other insurance issues going forward? Can this successful model for public private partnership overcome congressional gridlock?

"The message is clear: America will remain insured against acts of terrorism," said PIA National Executive Vice President and CEO Mike Becker, after H.R. 26 was signed. "The overwhelming votes in both the House and the Senate demonstrate that when it comes to protecting the citizens of the United States against terrorism, there is no partisanship on Capitol Hill."

It is a hopeful sign that at least on this issue, progress instead of gridlock on Capitol Hill is an achievable goal. The idea that members of Congress can put partisanship aside and do what's good for the American people is no longer unthinkable. It is a breakthrough that should be built upon.

Ted Besesparis is senior VP of communications for the PIA.