TRIA Bill Heads To House Floor

The Senate Banking Committee has not yet acted on the Senate's TRIA bill.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, praised the work of Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Mike Capuano, D-Mass., in getting H.R. 2761 through the House Financial Services Committee.

Dodd said he intends to continue to work with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the most senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, to strengthen and extend TRIA protections.

The White House opposes extension of the TRIA program, but officials there say President Bush would prefer a shorter extension to a longer extension.

The American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, welcomed House Financial Services Committee approval of H.R. 2761.

"The action by the House Financial Services Committee is an endorsement of the belief that the federal backstop in TRIA should provide adequate coverage for people and not just the buildings where they work or live," ACLI President Frank Keating says in a statement.