The White House and Senate Republicans are trying to use time pressure to persuade the House to accept a version of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act extension bill that excludes group life insurance.[@@]
The House has passed a different, broader TRIA extension bill that would include group life, but the White House and White House supporters in the Senate say the group life provision is unnecessary because the group life market has been flourishing without TRIA protection.
Normally, House and Senate lawmakers would hold a formal conference to hammer out differences between the bills, but Congress hopes to finish its business by Dec. 17, and TRIA is set to expire Dec. 31.
Given the tight schedule, the House should accept the Senate's TRIA extension bill, a spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said Thursday.