WASHINGTON — Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) is usually among the most popular figures at credit union gatherings and NAFCU's Congressional Caucus was no exception.
He received a standing ovation as he walked on stage, and his pledge that credit unions wouldn't lose their independent regulator was met with strong applause.
Kanjorski said the overall changes to the structure of financial services regulation will likely "stabilize the financial services industry," and he assured attendees that credit unions won't be placed under the same regulator as the banks.
Kanjorski urged attendees to tell members of Congress about the work that credit unions do to help the underserved so lawmakers will be less inclined to pass legislation extending the Community Reinvestment Act to include credit unions.
"You're the best salesmen there are," he said.
He didn't address the proposal for a new agency to regulate consumer financial products during his speech, but during a session with reporters afterward, he predicted the agency would pass in some form but declined to predict what it would look like.
Those lawmakers who discussed the agency during their remarks mostly took positions in accord with their party. Rep. Brad Miller ( D-N.C.) said the agency would take the consumer protections of certain parts of the government "that haven't been doing their job and put them into one place that will."
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