Friday, May 24th, 2002 — Insurance groups are disappointed, but not discouraged, over the failure of Congress to enact a federal backstop for the terrorism insurance market prior to the Memorial Day recess.
"It‘s been disappointing and frustrating to see the pace of negotiations," said Joel Wood, senior vice president of government affairs for the Washington-based Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. "But the bright side is that unlike the energy bill or the bankruptcy bill or the farm bill, there is not a multiplicity of issues in controversy."
All that is required to get the legislation enacted, he said, is a bit of will power.
Many people looked to the Memorial Day recess as a kind of psychological deadline for the legislation.