After the September 11th terrorist attacks, there were complaints that private insurers would be unable to provide affordable terrorism insurance, given the potential costs of a terrorist attack. As a result, Congress debated covering 90 percent of terrorism insurance claims above $10 billion. Conservatives balked at the idea of the federal government as an insurance provider, but Progressives saw a need to ensure that terrorism victims would receive reimbursement. A Senate conservative, McConnell (R-KY), proposed an amendment to ban punitive damages in terrorism-related lawsuits, a move that would most likely lower the size of awards significantly. Progressives and others protested that the government was not obligated for punitive damages under the bill, and that such damages helped prevent corporations from willfully cutting corners in their preparations for terrorist attack. Reid (D-NV) made a motion to table (kill) the amendment, a move Progressives supported. The motion to table passed, 50-46, on a strictly party-line vote.