WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), who sparked NCUA's modest means member data collection pilot, called NCUA's Member Service Assessment Pilot report "a step in the right direction."
However, he added that the agency still has "much more work ahead of them with respect to transparency and data collection." Thomas also accused NCUA and the credit union trade associations of "overstat[ing] the strength of the results of the report, especially those results which lead them to justify expansions of fields of membership. It would be premature to draw sweeping conclusions from the NCUA's preliminary analysis. Additional data gathering will be helpful in determining the veracity of these results and to measure progress."
He continued, "In fact, the report recommends the NCUA Board expand their data collection efforts. I encourage the NCUA Board to accept the report's recommendations." In addition, Thomas–who is retiring at the close of the 109th Congress–noted that the Government Accountability Office is expected to release a similar report by the end of November. "The GAO work includes examining the objectivity of the NCUA and comparing the population of customers served by banks versus those served by credit unions. GAO's work will be an important contribution to our understanding of a tax-exempt industry that has gone unreviewed by Congress for years."
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"NCUA has worked constructively with Chairman Thomas all year," NCUA Director of Public and Congressional Affairs John McKechnie said, "and we are pleased that valuable information has been provided on the questions that were raised at the hearing in November 2005. Now that this report is concluded, NCUA looks forward to working with Congress to identify ways in which credit unions can build on their solid record of service to their members."
CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica said of Thomas' response, "The chairman's statement is a fair one, and we are encouraged with his statement that the data collection results are 'a step in the right direction.' We look forward to working with the Congress in coming weeks and months to help credit unions best serve all of their members."
Thomas has scrutinized various nonprofits and tax-exempt entities in recent years, NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker noted, adding that the NCUA and recent HMDA reports do show credit unions serving all their members. "However, with further powers and authorities, credit unions would be able to do even more to serve those who are financially challenged," he said. –[email protected]
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