James A. Leach: “Before the House today is the Senate amendment to H.R. 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act. If the House…”

“Before the House today is the Senate amendment to H.R. 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act. If the House concurs in the Senate amendment, a step I strongly encourage, this important legislation will be cleared for the President for his expected signature, thereby ensuring that millions of Americans will not be forced out of the financial institution of their choice. This body originally approved the credit union bill on April 1 by a vote of 411-8 and the Senate last week acted by vote of 92-6. This legislation is in response to a 5-4 Supreme Court decision earlier this year which overturned the National Credit Union Administration's interpretation of the 1934 Federal Credit Union Act on what the appropriate common bond should be for Federal credit unions. If the Supreme Court decision were to stand, not only could millions of credit union members be kicked out of their financial institution, but the safety and soundness of the entire credit union system would have been jeopardized.”