[ inaudible ] thank you for the opportunity to talk about the center and quite honestly the state im very proud of, the state of indiana. Weve been around since 1989. Weve got 27 years of successfully linking community and academic expertise. Our goals are to build capacity in a states agency. The volunteer associations, the citizens of the state of indiana and so forth. Weve done a lot of work in emergency management, but the reason weve been successful is not because uniquely of the resources in our center but because of the atmosphere that exists in the state of indiana. Case in point, within indiana weve had the privilege of working with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to complete mitigation plans in close collaboration with the counties and cities and towns of the state of indiana. The approach we take is highly collaborative, so unlike many situations that we hear about where a plan is created and set aside on a shelf, if you would, which unfortunately i think does often happen, that plan becomes a living document. Something that the community is engaged in, people are brought to the table to discuss and be a part of. I think thats a critical component of making mitigation a sack spes. Part of the reason were also successful and something im exceedingly proud of is in the state of indiana we understand the importance of information. Fema created a tool im sure many of you are aware of a few years ago, and it has become a very significant part of the portfolio of resources in the state of indiana that we use. Its a technology that allows communities to estimate the impact of hazards, specifically floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and theyre able to do that in a more profound and successful way by integrating local resources. In my state, im happy to say that we have 100 of the counties that even though they have disagreements, to be sure, theyve managed to find a way to agree to share information. So anyone, anywhere, anytime can go out to the indiana map and download every single parcel in the state of indiana, road information, hydrology information, and of course, hazard information. That information combined with other resources in the state makes it possible for our citizens to be much better protected and much better able to respond to disasters than others might be. We have taken that success story, im proud to say, to other states as well. Were very much about building capacity. Weve worked extensively in the states of georgia, in west virginia, in many other areas. In total, weve worked in over 36 states including i believe everyone represented by members of this committee and over 100 cities. Building capacity means building tools. It means Building Work flows. It means, very importantly, education and not just in how to do hazard analysis but also what that means to a community in terms of its longterm resiliency. We believe firmly in connecting the fabric of the community to the solution so hunger, homelessness, issues like that are just as important in understanding how a community will or will not be resilient to a disaster as understanding whether a building is going to fall down or stay upright. And we look at all of those things and try to bring together in a synergistic way the conversations to allow people to take advantage of that knowledge. Thank you, sir. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Okay. Mr. Graves . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Commissioner nimmich, the bigger number 12 directs fema to incorporate simulations of Climate Change into some of the estimates that you develop in regard to premiums. Could you discuss how fema is doing that and how youre addressing uncertainties in regard to climate models . So through bigger 12s weve been required to use the best science possible to determine the flood risk maps, sir. And we continue to work with the Scientific Community and local communities to be able to identify what those potentials might be in the future in terms of climate adaptation, particularly with the rising tides in flood zones. Yep. And so the question is, how do you plan to address the uncertainties in regard to the models of future sea rise and potential for storm intensity changes and things along those lines . Sir, ill answer that for the record. Thank you. Another question. The Technical Mapping Advisory Committee that was established, they indicate in a recent report that they believe that there was about a 40 uncertainty rate associated with some of the flood models that were used. If you take that degree of uncertainty, which is extraordinary, and you put on top of it trying to estimate future changes in sea rise, future changes in the potential for storm intensity and frequency, it seems like were getting to a range of uncertainty that is just no longer helpful to even use those types of models and predictive information. Could you comment on that . Yes, sir. I dont think you can go to the extent of not using some sort of a model or a predictive capability when youre trying to determine whether mitigation and preventive actions need to be taken. So while there is a certain degree of uncertainty, we continue to use the best available information based on a wide range of Scientific Data thats available. Is there uncertainty . Theres always uncertainty in it. But we have to start somewhere to be able to create a basis on which the risk exists in the community. As you well know, sir, in your area, we just experienced floods in northern louisiana that no one would have expected based on the science that was there. So theres a great deal of uncertainty when you deal with any weather event. So we need to continue to find the best science at the time that we create the risk map and then as often as possible come back and reevaluate that science. Yeah. And i certainly concur that we need to be using the best information we can in regard to informing decisions. The concern is is that as you know theres significant consequences of determining flood maps and nfip premiums and with your 500 year flood risk management, there could be significant and severe financial implications. My point is that having such severe implications yet having such uncertainty with the predictive models, thats not such a comfortable combination of issues. I just want to urge as you move forward that you keep that in mind, that you need to keep in mind the reliability of the information and models and take into account the consideration of financial implications on counties, parishes and others moving forward. Director koon, first i want to say that i know a number of people that know you, and you have a great reputation. Thank you for being here. And i appreciate your testimony. A week before last, congress, the house of representatives passed hr2901 which was legislation and mr. Nelson, excuse me, im going to ask you a question on this as well that bill, what it does, it allows for private Flood Insurance to serve effectively as a surrogate for the nfip. Sounds like a good idea, private sector in many instances can be more efficient than government can. So face value sounds like its a good idea. However, being from your area, being from the area where i was born and live, im very concerned that what were going to see is were going to see private insurers come in that start cherry picking the policies that have the lowest risk. So what ends up happening under biggest waters 12 and the reforms in 2014 is youre left with the policies that have higher risk. Now, biggert waters 12 and the revisions from 2014 require that the loan that was given to nfip following the 2015 floods that it be repaid. It requires that a reserve fund be established. It requires that actuarial rates be charged under Flood Insurance. So my point is that the private Sector Insurance Companies arent going to have those same financial burdens. All theyre going to have is whichever policies they choose. The nfip is going to have now a smaller pool of rate payers because the private sector is pilling some of those off. So youre going to have the higher risk smaller pool that are still going to be subjected to establish will a reserve fund, paying off this debt of whatever it is 17 billion. Are those concerns . Should i not be concerned about this . Is there something there that we should be concerned about and should nfip reform be more comprehensive than just doing hr2901 . Thank you for the question, congressman. I think actually the debt is closer to 23 billion on the national Flood Insurance program. Thank you. Theyd like to get to 17 billion. The answer in my opinion is there needs to be more comprehensive reform of the national Flood Insurance program. And i would urge this committee to become engaged with that conversation next year when its up for reauthorization to work with the Financial Services committee on that because there are lots of components of the national Flood Insurance program that i think directly relate to the conversation were having here today with regards to mitigation activities that can take place across the country. One of the things that i express quite frequently in the state of florida and did just so yesterday before the governors hurricane conference general session, as a result of some of the actions during bigger waters 2012, weve seen a significant reduction in the number of Flood Insurance programs across the country and specifically in the state of florida. State of florida has lost over 10 of the Flood Insurance policies. Weve gone from just north of 2 million Flood Insurance policies in the state to about 1. 8 million. What that means is those citizens, the next time they have a disaster next time they have a flood in their community they are not going to be able to recover like they would have had they had Flood Insurance and there will be an additional cost on the federal government because they may be eligible for assistance from fema, may be eligible for assistance from the state, et cetera. So the costs are going to be born by the individuals. Those costs are going to be guided by government. So a comprehensive analysis and reform the National InsuranceFlood Program i believe is complete apply appropriate at this point. Florida last year in the legislative cycle did do some things to reduce some of the regulatory burdens on private Flood Insurance in the state of florida and so now there are private insurers offering Flood Insurance policies in the state. Its very nascent at this point. Theres probably 2,000 to 3,000 private Flood Insurance policies in the state, but it is a start. I do share your concern about some of the cherrypicking aspects and im not an insurance expert. Ill defer to mr. Nelson on that. But we have had a similar situation in the state of florida with the citizens insurance company, winborn insurance. They have depopulated a large segment of their policies to the private market and still remained financially feasible. So i believe mr. Nelson may be able to elaborate on that a little bit. But i believe, again, comprehensive reform of the national Flood Insurance program is absolutely appropriate at this point and can tie in some of the mitigation activities weve discussed thus far. Thank you. First let me say i would echo your concerns that youre raising. I think those are profound issues that we have to evaluate. So mr. Chairman, for the record, i just want to note he called me profound. Yes. So the i do think if you just step back for a minute, travelers let me just back up. Travelers, we do write Flood Insurance on a commercial basis, for commercial insurance. We do not write homeowners, Flood Insurance and we have no plans to enter that market. We also dont have a formalized position on this. Ill just express my points of view. Ive looked at a lot of fema rate plans. The private industry should not be able to compete with fema on price. Remember, we have to buy reinsurance. We have to have enough capital to meet our obligations. That means we have to have a pool of money. Typically thats our shareholders money. They have to get a return on that. Should not be able to compete with fema. Their plan needs to be modernized. Its not at all consistent with how the private sector looks at insurance, sells insurance and has a rating plan. So lets start with that. Lets modernize the program and then lets evaluate how we can privatize to think about that cherrypicking aspect. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for your generosity. I think mr. Graves made a good point earlier that Congress Needs to look across the federal government including levees and Flood Control projects when we try to bend the cost curve of disasters. The disaster cost mon fema authorization bill should help. And it makes such recommendations to congress. And i also want to thank administrator fugate for the disaster deductible proposal. I dont know if it is the right solution, but we need a vigorous debate and innovative ideas if were to drive down losses and not just shift costs between payers. I want to thank you all for your testimony. Your comments today have been helpful in our discussion. If there are no further questions, i would ask unanimous consent that the record of todays hearing remain open until such time as our witnesses have provided answers. Any questions that may be submitted to them in writing and unanimous consent. That the record be left open 15 days for additional comments and information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of todays hearing. Without objection, so ordered. Id like to thank our witnesses again for their testimony today. If no other members have anything to add, this subcommittee stands adjourned. Coming up tonight on csp 3 cspan3, American History tv and conference hosted by the Smithsonian National museum of africanAmerican History and culture. That museum opens this september. You can get a preview tonight starting at 8 00 eastern here on cspan3. 30 years ago, gavel to gavel u. S. Senate coverage began on cspan2. Cspan took a look back at 30 years of Televised Senate floor proceedings and how the senate has adapted to tv. The senate is, as i said, its a 12 21st Century Institution conceived in the 18th century trying to make the best use of the technology in the 21st century to remain true to its 18th century conception. It really its a difficult thing to do to forge compromise. Everybody has to give a little when you forge compromise and thats not photogenic. And so to a certain extent, the cameras both reveal the greatness of the senate, but also conceal it by not being able to show these kinds of discussions taking place. This, indeed, is a humbling moment for me. Im honored to serve as majority leader, but i also recognize that the majority is slim. This is still one of the most closely divided senates in all of history and we have just witnessed something that has never before happened in all of senate history. The change of power during a session of congress. You can see our entire look back at 30 years of the u. S. Senate on cspan2 saturday on cspan starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Madam secretary, we proudly give 72 of our delegate votes to the next president of the United States. And joining us from memphis is the Constitution Party nominee, Darrell Castle. Sir, thank you very much for being with us. Thank you. Glad to be here. I mentioned earlier one party does have its nominee. No second ballot. No question as to your own nomination. Why did you decide to become a candidate for the Constitution Party . Well, i think that the rule of law is very important, the constitution is very important. And im trying to preserve those things and to reestablish the rule of law in america. And the people in the Constitution Party wanted me, so here i am. And the platform of the Constitution Party includes the following mission statement. The mission of the Constitution Party is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to posterity to the election of all levels of government, constitution parties candidates who will uphold the principles of the declaration of independence, constitution of the United States and the bill of rights. It is our goal to limit the federal government. It is delegated, enumerated under constitutional function. So elaborate. What does that mean to you and to your party . Well, it means that in the constitution, article 1 section 8 delegates only 17 powers to the federal government. And under article 10, the 10th amendment, all other powers are reserved to the states or to the people respectively, so thats what we mean by that. We think the constitution should be followed in its original intent. What is your background and what do you bring to the party and also to this National Debate . Well, by profession, im a lawyer. Ive been a lawyer for 35 years, approximately, but ive been in the Constitution Party since its original founding in 1992. So 24 years. Ive been vice chairman of the party three different terms. And in 2008, i was a Vice President ial candidate. Your nomination and the Constitution Party convention, itself, which took place in Salt Lake Cit