Letter to Sen. Richard Burr

June 19, 2008

The Honorable Richard Burr
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Burr:

I am writing again asking that you support the Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act (S.2957).

I received your letter dated June 12, 2008 where you described Senator Lieberman’s proposed legislation, provided me with a definition of credit unions and then in no uncertain terms voiced your opinion that credit unions were trying to “blur the distinction between themselves and banks”.

That could not be more ill-informed and devoid of fact. As a credit union member for 31 years I can attest to the awesome distinction between banks and credit unions. Your clinical definition of credit unions and your assertion that this is an attempt to make credit unions like banks, highlights what can only be called an ignorance of what credit unions are and what they do.

Sir, credit unions provide financial products to people that banks will not serve. They are financial cooperatives that allow members to lend directly to other members. America’s credit unions are seeking the opportunity to better serve their communities not masquerade as profit hungry banks. Unlike your friends at Wachovia, America’s credit unions are not swimming in bad mortgages, because instead of being motivated by profit they are motivated by service. America’s credit unions did not make the risky mortgage loans that are taking down the heads of major commercial banks. It was not the actions of credit unions that brought us to this disaster for thousands of American families who will lose their homes. If anything sir, legislation should be introduced to make banks act more like credit unions.

I certainly understand that my support of the Republican Party and it’s causes, does not come close to the $100,000 your campaign has received from Wachovia during this campaign cycle. But I would ask that instead of listening to the people who have brought this mess on the country, you stand up and support the right of North Carolinians to help their neighbors and do so in a way that removes archaic regulation that artificially minimizes their effectiveness.

Your support of S.2957 will ensure that when you campaign for re-election in 2010 you can stand up and say you fought for us instead of the banks.

Sincerely,

Kristopher Kovacs