Becker: NAFCU PAC Outperforms in '04, Education was Top Priority

ARLINGTON, Va. – NAFCU continued to lead the way on credit union issues in 2004, strongly supporting a regulatory relief bill that passed the House with a number of credit union provisions. NAFCU also worked very hard for a separate credit union bill, the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, and NAFCU Secretary Bill Cheney testified on regulatory relief both in the House and in the Senate. NAFCU responded to bankers’ attacks through letters and op-eds in various newspapers and developed a “Myth vs. Reality” paper to counter the bankers’ arguments. Following on comments of retiring Comptroller of the Currency Jerry Hawke, NAFCU also suggested to the bankers that it was time to work with credit unions on regulatory relief. NAFCU actively participated in both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions as either the principal sponsor or cosponsor of several major events. NAFCU/PAC also had a great year in 2004, approaching $200,000 in contributions. NAFCU was the first credit union group to recognize and aggressively respond to ID theft. We launched a new resources page on our Web site and conducted several highly successful regional seminars. NAFCU’s attorneys also continued to provide first-rate compliance assistance through our toll-free helpline, and our members stayed abreast of changes through the Regulatory Compliance and UPDATE newsletters and a new NAFCU Today e-mail service. It is a tall order to provide the best educational conferences in the credit union industry today, but we again accomplished that feat. Whether delegates traveled to our events or tuned into our Webcasts, demand for our top-quality programs remained high. NAFCU members also continued to benefit from our alliance with Fannie Mae, and they received discounts on numerous services through the NAFCU Services Corporation’s preferred partner program. Our goal each year is to constantly improve upon the programs and services that NAFCU brings to our members. In 2004 we again did our job. Fred Becker NAFCU President/CEO Arlington, Va.