Representatives from ORNL Federal Credit Union and Y-12 Federal Credit Union recently traveled to Washington, D.C. for the annual National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Congressional Caucus. Representatives from ORNL FCU included: Randy Gorman, Board Chair; Leigha Humphries, Board Member; Colin Anderson, President/CEO; Tom Wright, Chief Marketing Officer; Becky Curry, SVP of Finance; and Jessica Emert, Director of Community & Public Relations. Representatives from Y-12 FCU included: Ron Honeycutt, Board Chair; David Rupert, Board Vice Chair; Mark Ziegler, President/CEO; Keith Troop, Executive Vice President/COO; and Betsy Cunningham, Community & Public Relations Manager.
The NAFCU Congressional Caucus was an opportunity to learn how key legislative and regulatory issues impact the credit unions’ ability to serve their members and credit union members throughout the country. ORNL FCU and Y-12 FCU volunteers and employees met with several key Tennessee lawmakers and/or their legislative staff to discuss the issues and how credit unions are vital to the strength and well-being of the East Tennessee community. Lawmakers included: Senator Bob Corker, Senator Lamar Alexander, Congressman John J. Duncan, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, and Congressman Phil Roe.
During the meetings, credit union representatives addressed the impact of regulatory burdens, the importance of establishing data security standards, and the protection of the credit union tax exemption status. The lawmakers listened to the credit unions’ concerns and recognized the importance of credit unions in the communities they represent as public servants.
“Attending the NAFCU Congressional Caucus provides a forum to talk to legislators about real issues affecting our members and communities. This is also a great opportunity to tell lawmakers how credit unions return value to members through better interest rates, service charges, and convenience,” said Anderson. “The meetings are productive and important to the credit union industry.”
Ziegler added that, “The NAFCU Congressional Caucus allows our credit union volunteers and employees the opportunity to voice our issues with our legislators and their staff. We continue to seek regulatory relief, merchant accountability for data breaches, and to maintain our tax exemption. Being a not-for-profit member owned cooperative, we want what is best for our member owners and the Caucus provides a platform for us to deliver that message to our legislators.”