FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       

CONTACT: Lauren Williams – CUNA Communications; (202) 626-7642; lwilliams@cuna.coop 

Washington, DC (June 27, 2018) – Credit unions provide a valuable service in meeting the needs of America's servicemen and women. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) wrote a letter opposing a provision in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5515) that would exclude credit unions from the current resources furnished to them on military basis. CUNA maintains the position that the provision would ultimately hurt credit unions while granting access to banks at the same  bases.   

Under Section 124 of the Federal Credit Union Act, on-base credit unions are exempt from costs related to leases, utilities and services for the furnishing of office space and land. Section 2808 of the House version of NDAA was designed to treat Federal and State chartered insured depository institutions equally, but this legislative definition excludes credit unions. 

“While we believe this was an unintended drafting error, the issue was not able to be resolved prior to House passage,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “The Senate version of the legislation contains no similar provision. Therefore, we oppose the section as adopted by the House and ask that it be removed during conference.” 

CUNA sent the letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and member Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla), as well as House Armed Service Committee Chair Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). 

###     

About CUNA       

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 110 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.