WASHINGTON—A congressional override of President Trump’s veto of the defense spending bill means language credit unions had fought to have removed will not become law and banks will not have access for facilities on military bases.
The Senate voted 81-13 and the House 322-87 to override President Trump’s veto of the $740.5-billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
As CUToday.info reported, the funding bill has turned into something of an annual battle for credit unions, which oppose any language that would provide banks with lease access for facilities on military bases. In the most recent bill, the House voted against including the language, while the Senate version of the legislation included the provision that was supported by banks.
Language in the Senate version read, “the Department of Defense to ensure that policies governing depository institutions and credit unions operating on military installations are equally applied to all relevant institutions…”
The language was eventually removed in conference committee, as it was in the prior Congress. The bill also passed without any amendments that would have boosted the size of federal stimulus payments to individual Americans.
Decision is Hailed
Passage of the bill was hailed by defense credit unions.
“(The Defense Credit Union Council) has been fighting to protect defense credit unions from harmful language in the NDAA for years,” said DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez. “This year’s battle was another in a long line of hard-fought battles that we have won. While we take the time to celebrate this victory, we do not take it for granted and will continue advocating for our members. We are very pleased that the 2021 NDAA does not contain this troublesome language. Credit unions work very hard to provide exceptional products and services to our military. We do so without looking to maximize shareholder profit because it is the right thing to do.”
Hernandez credited CUNA and NAFCU for its work in helping to defeat the measure.