WASHINGTON — There are a lot of differences and positive points for both NAFCU's Congressional Caucus and CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference that keep both thriving.
NAFCU's Caucus is just a week away and well-over 400 delegates are expected to make the annual trek to Capitol Hill with the group. "Attendance is as strong or stronger this year than in recent years," NAFCU Director of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler commented.
On the other hand, CUNA has nearly 3,000 credit union representatives swarming their way through the halls of the Washington Hilton and Capitol Hill in February for the GAC. "With so many people from throughout the credit union movement, it creates an energy you just don't find anywhere else," CUNA Senior Vice President of Communications Mark Wolff, who coordinates the event, commented.
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But NAFCU is pleased with its smaller size. "It's a more intimate session. You're not lost in the crowd…They come in and sit down one-on-one with their United States Senator," Thaler said, something most people never have the opportunity to do.
Coming to Washington as election season begins to peak is an exciting time. From this point on, Thaler said, "Everything is going to have a political overtone." The Democrats have a realistic chance of taking control of one or both houses of Congress and the Republicans could also be poised to hold both. "It's good for credit union representatives to experience that and understand that," he said.
The situation is the same with the speakers who have accepted invitations to address the group. You cannot control what they are going to say–sometimes they address credit union issues, other times not–and that is good too. "It helps give our members added insight…Credit union issues are not occurring in a vacuum," Thaler pointed out. Not only do these speakers provide context for issues, but also for the unrelated politics that affect what happens to credit union interests all the time in Washington.
The Caucus speaker's list recently expanded by one to include Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a candidate for one of Vermont's Senate seats. Others on the ticket include House Financial Services Chairman Mike Oxley (R-Ohio) and Ranking Member Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Emil Henry, and all three NCUA Board members.
Though Caucus attendees are competing with other matters members of Congress are dealing with at the end of a session and during an election season, Caucus also provides a final push for items that are "coming into the home stretch," like regulatory relief, Thaler said.
CUNA's GAC, by contrast, takes place in February when Congress is just returning back to session and attendees can get in the offices of members of Congress early on and lay the educational groundwork and get credit unions' position out there. "It's an opportunity to demonstrate our strength in numbers more than any other credit union conference, fanning out over Capitol Hill in a concentrated time frame," Wolff said. He added that the state leagues and CUNA staff work with the Hill visitors to try to ensure they are "prepared and on message."
GAC attendance has been on the rise. "We've been trending upward in attendance really since 2001. We're at the point we have outgrown the Washington Hilton…We have plans to move to the Washington Convention Center for 2008," Wolff added.
CUNA is also hosting 20 Hike the Hills this month in competition with NAFCU's Caucus. –[email protected]
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