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Reps. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., and Frank Guinta, R-N.H., highlighted the importance of credit union advocacy and outreach to lawmakers during their remarks at NAFCU's Congressional Caucus in Washington yesterday.

"It's up to you to make us interested and to teach us – and we want to learn," said Mulvaney. He said members of Congress will never know as much as credit union professionals know about the intricacies of financial services issues, and he said lawmakers need to hear about the issues from the source.

"Don't just tell us how it affects your institution," Mulvaney advised. "Figure out a way to explain how it impacts people." Mulvaney said credit union representatives must try to connect with both parties to explain how overregulation is hurting the industry.

Guinta echoed the point that regulators don't know more than the industries they regulate. He also emphasized how important it is for credit union advocates to reach out to lawmakers, and he said lawmakers take their constituents' concerns seriously.

"More than any Washington regulator, credit unions have a stake in their essential function and ability to serve customers, including middle-class families and business owners in New Hampshire," Guinta said. "We have personal relationships the federal bureaucracy could never replicate."

Guinta also touted the "CHOICE Act," a Republican alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act which passed out of the House Financial Services Committee last week and which has many NAFCU-supported initiatives for regulatory relief, including the proposed repeal of the Durbin amendment. That bill, H.R. 5983, awaits House action.