Dear Chairman Hensarling and Ranking Member Waters:
On behalf of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), I am writing in support of H.R. 1486, “Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending Act of 2015,” as the Committee marks up bills this week. CUNA represents America’s credit unions and their more than 100 million members.
We appreciate the leadership that Representative Barr and the seventeen Financial Services Committee cosponsors have demonstrated on this issue. H.R. 1486 would change how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau receives its funding, subjecting the Bureau to the appropriations process. Since the inception of the Bureau, CUNA has held the position that the most appropriate funding scheme for the Bureau would be under the appropriations process. This would not only provide an additional level of Congressional oversight, but it would also incentivize the Bureau to focus its attention on the abusers of consumers.
Credit unions did not cause the financial crisis, nor did they contribute to the crisis. Nevertheless, they are being impacted by post-crisis rulemaking that, with rare exception, has been poorly tailored. H.R. 1486 is a step in the right direction toward ensuring that credit unions and other small financial institutions do not pay for the misdeeds of other entities through additional regulatory burden. We encourage the Committee to approve H.R. 1486.
On behalf of America’s credit unions and their more than 100 million members, thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jim Nussle President & CEO