WASHINGTON–Both the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) and America’s Credit Unions have sent a number of letters to Capitol Hill.
DCUC submitted a series of letters to Congress, federal regulators, and other policymakers ahead of multiple key hearings and related policy developments.
In the letters, DCUC sait it sought to outline priorities affecting military and veteran financial readiness, small business access to capital, consumer protection, and the credit union system as a whole.
The letters include:
Prioritize Stronger Financial Safeguards for Veterans
DCUC urged stronger financial education, fraud protection, and coordinated VA-credit union collaboration ahead of the Subcommittee hearing on VA pensions, fiduciary services, and life insurance. The organization noted that benefit decisions directly affect long-term financial stability and highlighted credit unions’ role in financial counseling, safe banking access, and fraud prevention through programs like the Veterans Benefits Banking Program (VBBP).
Remove Barriers to Veteran Entrepreneurship and Small Business Lending
DCUC’s letter highlighted structural barriers it said prevent veterans from accessing business capital, including limited credit history, deployment-related income disruption, and non-traditional gig economy earnings.
DCUC is calling on Congress to advance the Veterans Member Business Loan Act (H.R. 507 / S. 110) to exempt veteran-owned small business lending from the Member Business Lending cap, enabling credit unions to better meet demand.
Credit Union Priorities Ahead of House Financial Services Committee Markup
Ahead of the Committee’s markup of H.R. 425, H.R. 941, H.R. 8286, and H.R. 8290, DCUC provided bill-by-bill recommendations, including:
- Support for H.R. 941 with refinements to ease Section 1071 burdens on smaller institutions
- Taking a neutral, amend-before-support position on H.R. 425 due to concerns over beneficial ownership data deletion
- Expressing conditional support for H.R. 8286 with safeguards for credit union-affiliated services
- Remaining neutral on H.R. 8290 due to limited direct credit union impact
DCUC also called for a dedicated credit union-focused markup addressing CLF modernization, veteran lending access, and field-of-membership reform.
“DCUC respectfully requested that the Committee hold a separate credit-union-focused markup on a short timeline,” the organization said “DCUC believes the purpose of that markup should be to consider targeted, bipartisan measures that directly expand responsible credit access, improve system resilience, and remove statutory barriers that uniquely constrain credit unions.”
Urgent Need to Combat Cyber Fraud Targeting Military Families at House Hearing
DCUC said it is seeking to address rising threats from online scams, crypto fraud, and digital extortion targeting military families, and it has outlined five priorities:
- Stronger “stop-the-loss” tools
- Enhanced public-private information sharing
- Robust AML/CFT enforcement
- Improved communications safeguards
- Expanded fraud education for vulnerable populations.
DCUC expressed support for the CFPB’s consumer protection mission while urging reforms to reduce regulatory burden, strengthen financial literacy partnerships, remove “reputational risk” concerns from supervision, and modernize agency infrastructure. It also emphasized tailoring oversight to credit unions and improving coordination across regulators.
Balanced Monetary Policy and Regulatory Equity Ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Nomination Hearing
DCUC provided recommendations on monetary policy, payments modernization, interchange regulation, and liquidity access ahead of the Kevin Warsh nomination hearing to lead the Federal Reserve (see related reporting). DCUC also stressed what it said is the need to balance inflation control with credit access, ensure fair Regulation II frameworks, support FedNow accessibility, and protect smaller institutions from disproportionate regulatory burdens.
“Credit unions continue to serve as the financial backbone for millions of servicemembers and veterans, but policy must keep pace with the realities they face—from entrepreneurship and fraud risk to access to liquidity and fair regulation,” Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said in a statement.
America’s Credit Unions Sends Letters
America’s Credit Unions, meanwhile, has also sent a number of letters across a range of subjects to Capitol Hill.
The letters include:
Letter to House Appropriations Committee Urging Full Funding for CDFI Fund, CDLRF
“Since 1994, the CDFI Fund has been a bipartisan cornerstone for expanding access to capital in underserved communities by providing crucial funding and technical assistance that has driven affordable housing, homeownership, small business growth, sustainable job creation, and consumer financial security through powerful public-private partnerships,” the letter states. “The CDFI Fund has consistently demonstrated its capacity to serve as a catalyst for private sector investment, with every dollar of public funding leveraged to unlock at least eight dollars in private capital. This return on investment is even more impressive with credit union CDFIs, with each dollar awarded resulting in a return of twelve dollars in community lending. This market-driven approach not only accelerates economic growth but also fosters self-reliance and reduces long-term dependency on government assistance.”
Additional Recommendations
The letter, which was sent to the committee e ahead of its markup of the FY27 Financial Services and General Government bill:
- Urges the committee to maintain or increase amounts for several credit union-related funds, particularly the CDFI Fund
- Calls for the CDFI Fund to be funded at the same level as FY26, $324 million (current legislation contains only $276.6 million for FY27).
- Says America’s Credit Unions would also support provisions to require the prompt dispersal of funding and address delays in releasing the FY25 and FY26 funds.
The letter also:
- Encourages the committee to appropriate $4 million for NCUA’s Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, which provides grants to credit unions serving low-income communities (the subcommittee-passed bill funds it at $3.4 million)
- Maintain the provision in the bill that would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency
- Reject any proposed reductions to the Small Business Administration’s lending and disaster relief programs, and any new proposed administrative fees for participating SBA lenders.
Letter Ahead of Markup in Support of Small Business Lending Relief
Separately, Americas Credit Unions told the House Financial Services Committee, “Credit unions and other community financial institutions provide access to credit tailored to meet the needs of small businesses. The complexity and significant costs of the CFPB’s Section 1071 rule disproportionately burdens credit unions and other community financial institutions in ways that lead to fewer and less favorable outcomes for all small business borrowers. The overly broad scope of data collection requirements under Section 1071 will substantially raise the cost of small business borrowing and require covered financial institutions to collect data on businesses that are not ‘small businesses’ by any traditional metric.”
The letter highlights support for the amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to H.R. 941, the Small Lenders Exempt from New Data and Excessive Reporting (LENDER) Act, according to America’s Credit Unions.
The trade group said it is supportive of the bill that would exempt certain smaller financial institutions from small business loan data collection requirements established under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Concerns Over ‘Big Brother’ Bill
America’s credit union said it has concerns with the ANS to H.R. 425, the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act. That bill would amend the Corporate Transparency Act to require only foreign companies to report beneficial ownership information to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Ultimately, America’s Credit Unions believes that the burden of collecting beneficial ownership information should not fall solely on financial institutions,” the trade group stated.
Red River Employees FCU Joins DCUC
Separately, DCUC said Red River Employees Federal Credit Union (RRCU), headquartered in Texarkana, Texas, has joined DCUC as its newest member.
DCUC noted RRCU has grown from its origins serving employees of the Red River Army Depot into a leading financial institution with more than 124,200 members and $1.624 billion in assets. Today, the credit union employs over 350 individuals across its service area and remains committed to delivering high-quality financial products and services to meet the evolving needs of its communities.
“Red River Credit Union is proud to join DCUC and strengthen our connection to the defense credit union community,” President and CEO Bradley Bailey said in a statement. “Our mission has always been to serve our members with excellence, and this partnership allows us to further support those who serve and their families.”Added DCUC President/CEO Anthony Hernandez in a statement, “We are excited to welcome Red River Credit Union to DCUC. Their strong commitment to member service and deep community roots aligns closely with DCUC’s mission to support credit unions’ service to all communities in need. We look forward to having them join our network of leading institutions and supporting their mission.”
