Sen. Cramer Statement on National Credit Union Administration's Strategic Plan

Statement

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued the following statement in response to National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) final Strategic Plan:

"Yesterday, the National Credit Union Administration finalized the Strategic Plan and unfortunately farmers' and ranchers' concerns fell on deaf ears. The language will inevitably discourage credit unions from lending to producers under the guise of "climate related financial risks.' This is exactly what the Biden Administration does. What they can't get done in law or via regulation, they use memorandum and guidance. It all has the same chilling effect. This radical agenda needs to be pulled out from the root."

Background:

In January, Senator Cramer voted against NCUA Board Chairman Todd Harper's re-nomination to serve a full term on the NCUA Board in the Senate Banking Committee due to concerns with the draft Strategic Plan.

In February, Senator Cramer joined Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) on a bicameral letter pressing the NCUA to continue supporting agriculture producers' access to credit. In a letter to NCUA Chairman Todd Harper, the members questioned language included in the NCUA's Draft Strategic Plan that could lead to regulatory discrimination against credit unions that lend to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural businesses in the name of addressing "climate-related financial risks."

Senator Cramer has been a leader in the discussion about the overlap in banking and climate. As a part of his speaker series entitled "The Bully Pulpit", the senator has hosted bank CEOs in North Dakota to discuss this. In September he hosted Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to participate in a town hall with North Dakota energy producers, and in November he hosted Bank of America CEO for town hall on climate solutions.

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