Declarations

Flood reforms
“Flood insurance reforms are needed because, as we have seen, storms will become stronger and more intense, and we need a program that can contend with the worst that Mother Nature can throw at us. Simply put, we cannot let another hurricane season pass without putting the National Flood Insurance Program on solid footing.”

— Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity and sponsor of H.R. 3121., commenting on why an update to the National Flood Insurance Program is needed, and why she recommended wind coverage be added.

Choicepoint class action
“It’s about time that somebody stood up and stopped companies from selling our personal and confidential information out the back door for profit. This lawsuit is long overdue, and we hope it will be the first step towards stopping this type of abuse.”

— Deane Silke of Fiesta Auto Insurance in Long Beach, Calif., and a board member of the Latin American Agents Association, explaining why he and other LAAA board of directors filed a class action lawsuit against Choicepoint Inc. According to the lawsuit, they believe Choicepoint sells customer data information despite assuring privacy will be maintained.

Lead lunch boxes
“It is outrageous for a company that has long known about this problem to be so cavalier about exposing children to lead. We hope that the state will take swift action.” (AP)

— Michael Green, executive director for the Oakland, Calif., Center for Environmental Health said that a company that produced lunch boxes containing high amounts of lead should have been stopped sooner. The California Department of Public Health warned consumers not to use about 56,000 lunch boxes that were imported by T-A Creations and distributed through a state program to encourage healthy eating and exercise. But Green said the company was warned of the problem nearly a year ago.

Dealing with depression
“We knew before that treating depression makes good medical sense. This suggests that it makes good business sense.”

— Dr. Thomas Insel, director of National Institute of Mental Health, confirming in a study that investing in depressed employees can cut absenteeism while improving workers’ health. The study indicated depression affects about 6 percent of employees each year and costs more than $30 billion annually in lost productivity. (AP)

Prepare for pandemic
“We found very few companies adequately prepared to protect their people or ensure the continuity of their business in the event of a pandemic.”

— John Merkovsky, president of Marsh’s risk consulting unit, warning that the catastrophic impacts of a long-lasting pandemic are overdue, and that most businesses are under-prepared.