<p>ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA Board Member Deborah Matz said she is very comfortable taking her seat at the agency. She noted that her strong financial background, having worked on state and local government issues and the loan resolution task force following the economic downturn of the 1980s, gives her a boost, as well as the familiarity she has with the bureaucracy of a federal government agency. "I understand the process of making loans and dealing with them when they go bad," she said of her experience on the task force. Matz handled over $1 billion in delinquent loans, mostly $1 million farm loans, in the 1980s. Matz said her goals in the short term are to work with the other board members and "meet the stakeholders and hear what they have to say." Over the long haul, she said she was most interested in ensuring the safety and soundness of the institutions she will regulate. "I'm really looking forward to working with Chairman Dollar and Board Member Johnson," she said. Her initial reaction to her new position was "a little overwhelming but terrific." She declined to comment on NCUA-specific issues until she had studied more. Matz is familiar with credit unions, however; she is a member of three. She joined Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union in 1973 while working on the Hill. She later joined the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Unions and Agriculture Federal Credit Union and has maintained accounts at all three. "I really like the service I've gotten and the feeling they'll go the extra mile," Matz commented. The former executive officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been nominated to a six-year term to end August 2, 2005. Former NCUA Chairman Norm D'Amours used one year of her term and another year was used by former recess appointment to the NCUA Board, Geoff Bacino. Matz said she is hoping for a speedy appointment to the full term. Matz, originally from New York, lives in MacLean, Va. with her husband of 24 years Marshall, a Washington-based attorney, and their son who is a sophomore in high school. Their daughter is a junior at Tulane University in New Orleans. Matz holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from George Washington University. [email protected]</p>