| November 18, 2005 - (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Sen. David Vitter announced that the U.S. Senate today increased funding for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to $18.5 billion so that agency can pay flood claims resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “When we are trying to pick up the pieces after the hurricanes, Louisiana homeowners with flood insurance deserve to have their flood claims paid quickly,” Vitter said. “It’s critical that the National Flood Insurance Program has the funding it needs to make all the payments due to flood insurance claims now when they’re most needed.” Because of increased flood claims, the NFIP did not have enough funding to pay all the flood claims. Without funding, people who had flood insurance were not receiving payment for their claims. In September, Congress voted to raise the budget from $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion in anticipation of the number of claims expected to be filed from the hurricanes. But this increase was not enough to handle the influx of flood claims. Vitter worked with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to ensure that the bill would be considered by the Senate this week. The Senate version of the bill increases the amount of funding for the federal flood program by $15 billion. “Getting this issue resolved quickly is extremely important for Louisiana,” said Vitter. “I thank Senator Shelby and Senate Leadership for getting this issue to the Senate floor this week.” This bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives. |
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