WASHINGTON - In a letter delivered to every member of Congress,CUNA President and CEO Dan Mica expressed his outrage at theAmerican Bankers Association's priority list, which puts taxingcredit unions as a "superpriority" over terrorism, corporatereforms, and accurate accounting. Mica said he initially thoughtABA's "Government Relations Priorities for 2004" might have been an"April Fool's prank." "My staff quickly assured me it was no joke;from that point on, this list burned in my hands," he wrote. Alongwith credit unions, FDIC reform and defending Gramm-Leach-Blileywere among the "superpriorities." Fighting terrorism, corporate andaccounting governance, and preventing crimes like identity theftand robberies fell below that, under the heading "priorities." "Inessence," Mica wrote, "the bankers are saying that taxingnot-for-profit, volunteer-led credit unions which serve 85 millionconsumers is MORE IMPORANT (Mica's emphasis) than protecting thefinancial system from exploitation by terrorists, mandating ethicalcorporate behavior to prevent another Worldcom implosion, andensuring accurate accounting to thwart an Enron-like debacle." ABADirector of Public Relations Charlotte Birch said of the letter, "Ithink it shows that rather than argue the real issue, they'retrying to deflect attention with a rather desperate, whiny, `tellthem to stop picking on us' plea and maybe it should be up for anOscar." She pointed out that there is no immediate anti-terrorismaction on the legislative front and that the ABA and its membershave thoroughly covered PATIROT Act and corporate governancematters. To the contrary, Mica said, it is the bankers who arewhining. "The ABA's ranking of its superpriorities and priorities,placing credit union taxation so high is just one more reason whyyou must tell the banks to stop their whining, get off the backs ofAmerica's credit union members, and get on with the business ofserving the nation's commerce and economy," he wrote. He called theABA's priority ranking outrageous and "completely out of touch withthe gravity of the real challenges facing our financial system andour nation." Mica pointed out that on April 20, the Senate BankingCommittee had grilled regulators on the safety of the bankingsystem from terrorist activity. "Further, for a national tradegroup, which represents institutions that depend on the public'strust and confidence, this action must raise red flags as to theABA's ability to properly evaluate and advocate public policyissues," he wrote. The letter continued, "Perhaps the real lessonto be learned is that the ABA is having trouble convincing anyoneto think seriously that banks, on the heels of posting recordprofits of $120.6 billion (their most profitable year ever) face atrue challenge from the nation's credit unions. Further, as theassets of the entire credit union movement are less than one-tenthof total bank and thrift assets (that is, $629 billion for creditunions and $9.1 trillion for banks), it is difficult to see how -let alone why - credit unions present any sort of competitivechallenge to banks." [email protected]