Six years after the 9/11 attacks, the head of an insuranceinformation group said it is vital that a long-term governmentterrorism risk insurance program be passed.

"With many realistic attack scenarios producing losses severaltimes that of September 11, it is essential that a long-termterrorism risk insurance program be enacted," Robert P. Hartwig,president of the Insurance Information Institute, said in astatement.

Mr. Hartwig added, "Implementation of such a measure is a keycomponent of the nation's effort to protect the financial homeland.Congress is considering an extension which will protect millions ofbusinesses and their workers. It also addresses the potentialambiguity of domestic vs. international terrorism acts."

He noted that The Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision andExtension Act of 2007 (TRIREA) has to date won support in the U.S.House of Representatives, and will also need to win approval fromthe U.S. Senate and the president before it goes into effect. Thecurrent TRIA law expires Dec. 31.

A long-term terrorism risk insurance program's benefits, Mr.Hartwig said, will be felt immediately and will affect virtuallyevery segment of the economy.

"Businesses in cities and towns, large and small, from coast tocoast would under this proposal be able to purchase terrorism riskinsurance more readily, secure in the knowledge that the protectionwill remain available for many years to come," he said.

"It should be particularly beneficial to the construction,commercial real estate, manufacturing, and utility andtransportation industries. Governments that own and operatecritical infrastructure such as airports, ports and bridges willalso benefit."

But, he expressed concern over the inclusion of a provision thatwould compel insurers to cover nuclear, biological, chemical andradiological risks.

"NBCR risks pose unique threats which have in the past not beencovered by standard property-casualty insurance policies. Insurershave little to no experience insuring against these risks, themagnitude of which can easily exceed the claims-paying resources ofprivate insurers, even with TRIREA in place," Mr. Hartwigwarned.

Threat of another attack remains a source of uncertainty for theU.S. economy, with potentially negative consequences for bothbusiness interests and employment, according to the InsuranceInformation Institute (I.I.I.).

"Besides killing almost 3,000 individuals, the terrorists alsosent economic shock waves throughout the U.S. economy," said Mr.Hartwig.

"By paying September 11-related claims totaling $31.6 billion,the insurance industry helped families and businesses get back ontheir feet after an event without precedent in U.S. history."Adjusted for inflation, insurers paid the equivalent of $35.9billion in September 11 claims in 2006 dollars, the I.I.I.estimates.

This article originally appeared in The National UnderwriterP&C. For the complete article, please click here.

Interested in more terrorism news and in-depth articles? Headover to Claims' terrorism channel for more information.