Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Today, the CEOs of New York City's 200 leading companies - all members of the Partnership for New York City - sent an urgent letter to House Republican Leadership asking them "to quickly pass the Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Act (TRIA)."
TRIA was originally passed in 2002 in the wake of 9/11, and exists to "provide a federal backstop for insurance coverage in the event of catastrophic losses from terrorist attacks." In other words, the bill was designed to help employers and insurers to appropriately manage terrorism risk. As it stands, TRIA is set to expire in December 2014.
On July 17, the Senate passed a version of a TRIA reauthorization 93-4 in a display of overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle. The Senate's renewal bill extends TRIA for an additional seven years, and was first brought to the floor by Sen. Schumer (NY) in April. The House currently has its own version of the TRIA extension, which only proposes to extend the bill for five years.
The Partnership for New York City's letter cites the U.S.'s "vulnerab[ility] to international terrorism" and urges the House to "act swiftly to pass a bill that maintains a program structure that has proven effective and has had no cost to the federal taxpayer." It was signed by executives from a wide array of industries including. Some of the signatories included: fashion designer Tory Burch, media mogul Barry Diller, American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault, Viacom Inc. President and CEO Philippe Dauman, and billionaire John Catsimatidis.
The House is set to vote on the Senate's version of the bill in coming weeks.
Here is the full text of the letter:
July 22, 2014
Honorable John Boehner (R-OH) Speaker of the House
Honorable Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Majority Whip
Honorable Steve Scalise (R-LA) Majority Whip-Elect
Dear Representatives Boehner, McCarthy, and Scalise,
We write to urge the House of Representatives to quickly pass the
Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization Act (TRIA). America remains
vulnerable to international terrorism. "TRIA" is one of the 21st
Century tools that we rely upon to protect American jobs and allow
investment to continue, despite the risk of terrorism. With the sunset
of this federal program coming up in December, it is already difficult
to renew insurance along the lines required by employers and property
owners in urban centers.
The bill that passed in the Senate last week with overwhelming,
bipartisan support provides the federal backstop necessary to allow
insurers, employers, and property owners to continue to manage
terrorism risk. It is important to the business community in New York
City and across the nation that the House act swiftly to pass a bill
that maintains a program structure that has proven effective and has
had no cost to the federal taxpayer.
We want to continue to work with you to keep our economy growing. TRIA
is one of the public-private partnership arrangements that makes
continued growth possible.
Sincerely-
Lee S. Ainslie, III, Managing Partner, Maverick Capital
Ajay S. Banga, President & CEO, MasterCard
David Barger, President & CEO, JetBlue Airways Corporation
Candace K. Beinecke, Chair, First Eagle Fund & Chair, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Frank A. Bennack, Jr., Executive Vice Chairman of the Board &
Chairman, Executive Committee, Hearst Corporation
Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC
William H. Berkman, Managing Partner, Associated Partners, LP
Mark T. Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President, Aetna Inc.
Michael W. Blair, Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Jeff T. Blau, Chief Executive Officer, The Related Companies, L.P.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Adam M. Blumenthal, Managing Partner, Blue Wolf Capital Management
Michael C. Bodson, President & CEO, The Depository Trust and Clearing
Corporation
Frank Branchini, Chairman & CEO, EmblemHealth Services LLC
Jacques Brand, Chief Executive Officer, North America, Deutsche Bank Americas
Tory Burch, Chief Executive Officer, Tory Burch LLC
Ursula M. Burns, Chairman & CEO, Xerox Corporation
Michael A. Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, Ally Financial Inc.
Gregory C. Case, Chief Executive Officer, Aon plc
Dominic J. Casserley, Chief Executive Officer, Willis Group Holdings, Plc
John Catsimatidis, Chairman & CEO, Red Apple Group, Inc.
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express Company
Richard B. Clark, Chairman & Global Head of Real Estate, Brookfield
Office Properties Inc.
H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Creighton Condon, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling
Philippe P. Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom Inc.
Anthony J. de Nicola, Co-President, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture
Barry Diller, Chairman & Senior Executive, IAC
Daniel L. Doctoroff, President & CEO, Bloomberg L.P.
Irene M. Dorner, President & CEO, HSBC Bank USA
Douglas Durst, Chairman, Durst Organization Inc.
Richard W. Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Senior Partner, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Andrew Farkas, Chairman & CEO, Island Capital Group LLC
Roger W. Ferguson, President & CEO, TIAA-CREF
Joseph R. Ficalora, President & CEO, New York Community Bancorp, Inc.
Laurence D. Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock, Inc.
Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance LLC
William E. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic LLC
Edward C. Forst, President & CEO, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
Russell P. Fradin, Chief Executive Officer, SunGard
Eric J. Friedman, Managing Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark T. Gallogly, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
MaryAnne Gilmartin, President & CEO, Forest City Ratner Companies
Barry M. Gosin, Chief Executive Officer, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Jonathan N. Grayer, President & CEO, Weld North LLC
James H. Herbert, II, Chairman & CEO (Founding), First Republic Bank
Marc Holliday, President & CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.
Brian T. Horey, President, Aurelian Management
Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman & CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC
Brad S. Karp, Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Jeffrey Katz, President & CEO, Sherwood Equities Inc.
Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman & CEO, Alcoa Inc.
Henry R. Kravis, Co-Chairman & Co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Rochelle B. Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Joseph M. Leccese, Chairman, Proskauer
Richard S. LeFrak, Chairman & CEO, The LeFrak Organization
Jeffrey E. Levine, Chairman, Douglaston Development
Pamela Liebman, President & CEO, The Corcoran Group, Inc.
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman, President & CEO, Macy's, Inc.
Bridget A. Macaskill, President & CEO, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC
Peter L. Malkin, Chairman Emeritus, Empire State Realty Trust
Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, CEO & Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Donald B. Marron, Chairman, Lightyear Capital
Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners
John McAvoy, Chairman, President & CEO, Con Edison
Sherilyn McCoy, Chief Executive Officer, Avon Products, Inc.
Raymond W. McDaniel, Jr., President & CEO, Moody's Investors Service
Mitchell Modell, Chief Executive Officer, Modell's Sporting Goods
Kenneth D. Moelis, Chief Executive Officer, Moelis & Company Holdings LP
Robert E. Moritz, Chairman & Senior Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
Atsushi Nakajima, President & CEO, Rockefeller Group International, Inc.
Richard D. Parsons, Senior Advisor, Providence Equity Partners
Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, McGraw Hill Financial
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Infor
Ian C. Read, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC
Thomas J. Reid, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Daniel W. Riordan, Chief Executive Officer, Global Corporate, North
America, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd
James D. Robinson, III, Co-Founder & General Partner, RRE Ventures
Julio E. Rojas, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, Standard Chartered Bank
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Chairman & CEO, WL Ross & Co. LLC
Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
Steven Roth, Chairman & CEO, Vornado Realty Trust
Howard J. Rubenstein, President, Rubenstein Associates, Inc.
William C. Rudin, Vice Chairman & CEO, Rudin Management Company, Inc.
Kevin P. Ryan, Chairman & Founder, Gilt
Alexander Saint-Amand, Chief Executive Officer, GLG
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Frank J. Sciame, Chairman & CEO, F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc.
Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank
Tad Smith, President & CEO, The Madison Square Garden Company
James C. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Thomson Reuters
J. Eric Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re Americas
Jerry I. Speyer, Chairman & Co-CEO, Tishman Speyer
Arthur P. Steinmetz, President & CEO, OppenheimerFunds, Inc.
Mark Thompson, President & CEO, The New York Times Company
Mary Ann Tighe, Chief Executive Officer, NY Tri-State Region, CBRE, Inc.
James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
John B. Veihmeyer, Chairman & CEO, KPMG LLP
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP
Christopher J. Williams, Chairman & CEO, The Williams Capital Group, L.P.
Robert Wolf, Chief Executive Officer, 32 Advisors, LLC
Douglas M. Woodham, President, Americas, Christie's
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Tim Zagat, Co-Chair, Zagat Survey LLC
Strauss Zelnick, Chief Executive Officer, ZelnickMedia Corporation
Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, USNews & World
Report; Chairman & Publisher, NY Daily News; Chairman, Boston
Properties