In brief: House supports flood insurance

Washington – The House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a five-year reauthorization of the federal flood insurance program, sending a message that lawmakers want the program, which has been struggling since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to be revamped.

The National Federal Insurance Program, as the program is formally known, is scheduled to expire Sept. 30.

The House bill, passed 406-22, would make sweeping changes in the current structure: It would set actuarially sound premiums, reduce current rate subsidies, improve flood area mapping, call for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study incorporating private insurance and increase coverage for homes and commercial buildings.

The Senate must still act on a bill.

Romney rejects anti-gay pledge

Des Moines, Iowa – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign said Tuesday that he will not sign a conservative Iowa Christian group’s far-reaching pledge opposing gay marriage, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to reject it.

Two of Romney’s rivals for the Republican nomination, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, have signed the The Family Leader’s 14-point pledge, which calls on the candidates to denounce same-sex marriage rights, pornography, same-sex military accommodations and forms of Islamic law.

Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney, said in a written statement Tuesday that Romney “strongly supports traditional marriage,” but that the oath “contained references and provisions that were undignified and inappropriate for a presidential campaign.”