WASHINGTON-Sixteen hundred credit union officials from across the country are hand-delivering petitions containing more than 660,000 signatures of credit union members supporting the credit union tax exemption. CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference will serve as the peak time for delivery, but hundreds will also be delivering petitions to the home offices of their members of Congress, as well as at the local level. The aim of the petition drive is to actually demonstrate to members of Congress that credit union members are ready and willing to show their support for maintaining their credit unions' tax-exempt status. Specifically, the petition states, "we the undersigned agree that a tax on our credit union is a tax on us and all" 86 million credit union members nationwide. About 35 state credit union leagues participated in the petition drives with 20 states delivering in D.C. and 15 in their local districts. "This is just an opening salvo of the support of members for their credit unions that we plan to show Congress as the discussion of tax reform begins in Washington," CUNA Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs John McKechnie said. "As the dialogue continues, we will have much more to show the nation's lawmakers about credit union support and the impact credit unions have on all consumers of financial services." He added that the petition drive has been a valuable tool in educating members of the threat to credit unions' tax exemption. [email protected]