DCUC & America’s CUs Lobby Senate for ‘Clean’ NDAA

Lawmakers on the other side of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. are preparing to discuss the newest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and officials with the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) and America’s Credit Unions want congressional leaders to reject any unrelated credit union amendments to the bill.

In a joint letter to Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee respectively, the two organizations pressed the leadership to preserve the NDAA and pass a clean version of the bill that avoids any unrelated credit union issues.

The House Armed Services Committee advanced its version of the Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA last month without any amendments from banks.

“There has been intense discussion regarding the Department of Defense Overseas Military Banking Program (OMBP), and the awarding of the contract to manage the OMBP to a credit union,” the letter stated. “America’s Credit Unions and the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) urge you to preserve “clean” NDAA that avoids adding in unnecessary policy provisions that distract from the focus on preserving a robust military and that could upset the balance the DOD has found with on-base financial services for its servicemembers.”

The letter, signed by America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle and DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez, referred to the DOD awarding Navy Federal Credit Union a contract last September to manage the OMBP, known as “Community Bank.” The program was previously operated by Bank of America.

Both DCUC and America’s Credit Unions pressed the importance of excluding the proposal to amend the Federal Credit Union Act to provide share insurance for deposits made at a credit union operating the OMBP contract.

The letter continued, “One such amendment would amend the Federal Credit Union Act (FCUA) to provide share insurance for deposits made at a credit union operating the OMBP contract, and we do not support its inclusion in the NDAA. Our organizations strongly support credit unions on military bases, because we believe that they are the best source for safe, affordable financial services for our men and women in uniform, but we also believe that Congressional action at this point is premature and legislation amending the FCUA should not be added to the NDAA when it is considered in the full Senate.”