Washington, D.C. ( January 8, 2014) - The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) today praised the U.S. Senate for passing legislation to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in the wake of House passage yesterday, sending the bill to the President's desk for signature. AH&LA, as the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.8 million-employee lodging industry, made reauthorization of this critical program one of its top legislative priorities.

"We applaud the United States Senate for moving so quickly at the start of the year to pass legislation to reauthorize TRIA, a fundamental priority for the hotel industry. When the program expired in December, hoteliers and those looking to invest and create jobs were left with enormous uncertainty about the future. Congress did the right thing by casting aside politics and helping to foster stability and development among many industries, including ours. For four straight years, the lodging sector has been a driver of economic growth. With final passage of this legislation, hotels can continue that growth," said Katherine Lugar, AH&LA president and CEO.

Just yesterday, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) joined other trade associations from a wide range of industries in sending a letter to both the House and the Senate, calling on Congress to take immediate action to reauthorize the program.

First passed by Congress in 2002 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, TRIA was created to provide a federal backstop for terrorism insurance coverage. Although both chambers of Congress passed bipartisan legislation to renew the program before the 113th Congress adjourned, a final version of the legislation was never passed and sent to the President's desk for signature. As a result, the program expired in December.