Members of the Partnership for New York City Call TRIA “a 21st Century Tool that Protects American Jobs and Allows Investments to Continue”
New York City, July 22, 2014 – Today, in a letter sent to Representatives John Boehner (R-OH), Speaker of the House; Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Majority Whip; and Steve Scalise (R-LA), Majority Whip-Elect, 117 leaders of some of the nation’s largest employers called on the House Republican leadership to promptly pass reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). TRIA was created in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks in order to provide a federal backstop for insurance coverage in the event of catastrophic losses from terrorist attacks. Business leaders are concerned that if no action is taken by Congress, the program will end this year and terrorism insurance will again become unavailable. This would pose a particular problem for New York City, the nation’s #1 terrorist target.
America remains vulnerable to international terrorism and 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.
“As currently designed, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) program works, and is what makes it possible to maintain our vibrant economy in the face of what we all recognize as a significant risk.”
(Full Letter to House Republican Leadership)
July 22, 2014
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
Jane A. Chmielinski, Chief Operating Officer & President, Americas, AECOM
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
Robert Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
James H. Herbert, II, Chairman & CEO (Founding), First Republic Bank
Marc Holliday, President & CEO, SL Green Realty Corp.
Steven Holliday, Chief Executive Officer, National Grid
Stephen R. Howe, Jr., Americas Area Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Frederick J. Iseman, Chairman & CEO, CI Capital Partners LLC
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
Ronald Perelman, Chairman & CEO, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.
Douglas L. Peterson, President & CEO, McGraw Hill Financial
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Infor
Deidre Quinn, President & CEO, Lafayette 148 New York
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
Barry F. Schwartz, Executive Vice Chairman & Chief Administrative Officer, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.
Frank J. Sciame, Chairman & CEO, F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc.
Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank
James C. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Thomson Reuters
J. Eric Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re Americas
Tad Smith, President & CEO, The Madison Square Garden Company
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
Daniel R. Tishman, Vice Chair, Tishman Realty Partners
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
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About the Partnership for New York City
The Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org) engages the CEOs of the City’s 200 largest employers in efforts to advance the New York City economy and maintain the City’s position as the center of world commerce, finance and innovation. Through the Partnership Fund for New York City, the Partnership supports promising NYC-based entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors to create jobs, spur new business and expand opportunities for New Yorkers to participate in the City’s economy.
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