WASHINGTON (December 3, 2014) – U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement urging Congress to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) before its expiration on December 31, 2014:

“Failure to reauthorize TRIA in a timely fashion is creating the condition that any economy hates most: uncertainty. A vast and vital portion of the U.S. economy depends on TRIA to be able to operate effectively in the current global security environment, and leaving its future in doubt is hampering growth and job creation, plain and simple.

“On 9/11, America’s businesses and workers did not have the essential safeguards TRIA provides to deal with the devastating fallout of a major attack. The economic effects were enormous and rippled for years.

“Since its enactment in 2002, TRIA has strengthened the U.S. economy’s resilience at no cost to taxpayers. Businesses in our industry readily attest to the importance of TRIA in providing the necessary level of terrorism risk insurance that is simply unattainable in the private market.

“We’re finally seeing some consistent good news about our economy. But the news could be even better if Congress were to finish up some basic items before they leave town for the year, and one of those items is renewing TRIA. We urge House leaders to follow the Senate’s lead and immediately enact a multi-year reauthorization of this program.”

In September, U.S. Travel joined a multi-industry sign-on letter to the House of Representatives encouraging immediate action on TRIA. Click here to read the letter.