WASHINGTON—CUNA has written in opposition to a provision in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5515) that would exclude credit unions from the current resources furnished to them on military bases.
CUNA said it believes this provision would be a detriment to military credit unions while granting banks access to the same bases.
Currently, the furnishing of office space and land to on-base credit unions is governed by Section 124 of the Federal Credit Union Act. This language exempts on-base credit unions costs related to leases, utilities and services on military bases.
Section 2808 of the House version of NDAA was intended to treat Federal or State chartered insured depository institutions equally with respect to the financial terms of leases, services, and utilities, said CUNA, which added its definition of “insured depository institutions” excludes credit unions.
‘Unintended Drafting Error’
“While we believe this was an unintended drafting error, the issue was not able to be resolved prior to House passage,” wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “The Senate version of the legislation contains no similar provision. Therefore, we oppose the section as adopted by the House and ask that it be removed during conference.”
CUNA’s letter was sent to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), and member Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), as well as House Armed Service Committee Chair Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA).