Hypocritical disparity in national priorities regarding property insurance versus health insurance

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus and Pennsylvania's senior appropriator on the House Appropriations Committee, issues the following statement on hypocritical disparity in the national priorities regarding property insurance versus health insurance.

"Today the House of Representatives will pass much-needed legislation to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program.  This vital program ensures that homeowners along our sea coasts and streams have the coverage they need should disaster strike, and it limits the risk that the public coffers will have to bear a significant unexpected burden. It is appropriate for the Federal government to step in as insurer, given the difficulties that homeowners face finding insurance in the private market.

"While I will proudly cast my vote today in support of this important program, I am compelled to point out the bewildering and hypocritical nature of the debate over the government's role in providing vital insurance protection.

"We are quick to provide property protections for homeowners and yet must fight tooth and nail to ensure similar protections for the health of mothers, fathers and their children. Flood insurance will have a bipartisan vote to protect consumers from the whims of the private market with appropriate federal intervention.  Surely children, the bearers of our future, as well as the elderly and every other American whose health is at the mercy of private insurance corporations, are entitled to at least the same treatment as houses on flood plains. 

"I will happily vote 'aye' today and listen for the demagoguery of 'government takeover,' 'Socialism,' and 'Democrats gone wild' that we heard while extending historic protections to tens of millions of Americans. The ensuing silence will speak volumes."