President Obama called on Congress to pass a bill that addresses evolving cybersecurity threats.
"No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids. We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism," he said in the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
"And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children's information. If we don't act, we'll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe."
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NAFCU President/CEO Dan Berger said NAFCU welcomes President Obama's call for Congress to pass legislation to combat cyber threats and identity theft.
"Our efforts to establish national data security standards for retailers will help address the president's call for action to protect our nation from continued vulnerability," he said.
CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle said CUNA is pleased Obama urged congressional action on cybersecurity in his State of the Union address.
"Through legislative advocacy and a public information campaign, CUNA is pressing for merchants to be held to the same data security standards that credit unions and other financial institutions must follow," Nussle said. "Consumers should be notified of breaches in a timely manner, and merchants should reimburse credit unions for costs they incur as a result of merchant data breaches. We look forward to supporting and working with the administration on these important goals."
In the speech, Obama also said, "We can't put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance, or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street, or refighting past battles on immigration when we've got a system to fix. And if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, it will earn my veto."
Berger urged the Obama administration to work with Congress on "common sense changes that ensure that the provisions enacted to rein in bad actors on Wall Street – through the Dodd-Frank Act or any other measure – not be so constraining that the nation's credit unions are hampered in their ability to meet the very real financial services needs of their more than 100 million members nationwide."
In response to Obama's veto threat, Nussle said, "Credit unions didn't cause the financial crisis but continue to be mired in the regulations imposed to curb big banks and other bad actors, who did trigger the economic morass."
Nussle added that overregulation and any new regulatory mandates hinder credit union service to members.
"CUNA is working to give credit unions relief from existing rules and to stop any new rules that do nothing but add to the burden," he said.
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