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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NAFCU Responds to President Obama's State of the Union Address

Washington (Jan. 20, 2015) - In response to President Obama's State of the Union address, National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger issued the following statement.

"NAFCU appreciates the president's belief that together we can do great things. In 2015, NAFCU looks forward to working with the administration and Congress to advance our country's economic prosperity especially through several key issues that also reflect our priorities for 2015 – including national data security standards for retailers and increased small business lending.

"We welcome President Obama's call to pass legislation to meet the evolving threat of cyberattacks and combat identity theft. Our efforts to establish national data security standards for retailers will help address the president's call for action to protect our nation from continued vulnerability.

"We also applaud President Obama's commitment to take actions that help the economy grow and help more Americans achieve prosperity. The nation's credit unions are exceptionally qualified to help make this a reality by facilitating access to capital and financial services in communities throughout Main Street America. By lifting the arbitrary member business lending cap on credit unions, even more capital could be made available to small businesses, fostering the creation of valuable jobs without the need for any new taxes or government programs.

"Finally, while NAFCU recognizes the importance of consumer protection post-financial crisis, we wish to emphasize that ensuring consumers' best interests has been a guiding principle of the nation's credit unions – not-for-profit, member-owned financial institutions – since their inception. We urge the president to work with Congress to bring about commonsense changes that ensure that the provisions enacted to rein in bad actors on Wall Street – through the Dodd-Frank Act or any other measure – not be so constraining that the nation's credit unions are hampered in their ability to meet the very real financial services needs of their more than 100 million members nationwide."

Contact: Patty Briotta | 703-842-2820 | pbriotta@nafcu.org