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Walter Furnace, government and industry relations manager at American Airlines Federal Credit Union in Fort Worth, Texas, received NAFCU's 2014 Paul Revere Award during the final day of the association's Congressional Caucus Friday in Washington.

Furnace was recognized as the credit union grassroots activist of the year. Bestowed in NAFCU members only, the award is given to recognize the credit union supporter who goes above and beyond the call of duty in their grassroots and political efforts.

"Walter has been a diligent supporter of credit unions and the industry's most vital issues," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "His commitment to advancing credit unions' legislative and regulatory initiatives is unwavering."

In June, Furnace met with eight members of Congress, including Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas, on some of the credit union industry's most pressing concerns, including preserving the credit union tax-exempt status, the need to ease regulatory burden and protecting credit union members from merchant data breaches. He also led a discussion regarding NCUA's risk based capital proposal, prompting Marchant to write NCUA to question the merits of the proposed rule.