WASHINGTON - “The thing I remember the most was the response of the credit union members when we needed them the most to push it (the bill) over the top,” observed U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski.
One of two chief sponsors of the bill, Kanjorski recalled the day after the bill passed the House on an overwhelming 411-to-8 vote, that thousands of rank-and-file CU members turned out from all over the country for a rally at the Capitol to show the Senate the support for the bill.
Earlier, the House leaders had failed to attach the credit union bill to a bank bill, which eventually became the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
“People came in from all over; some of them came down by bus from my home district,” said the Pennsylvania lawmaker. “It was a phenomenal show of grassroots support. They put everybody up there (on the stage) from the House and Senate who supported the bill.” Soon after, the Senate also passed the bill by an overwhelming margin, 92-to-6.
“That, to me, really showed America at its best. It demonstrated the right of the people to petition the government and they spoke well for themselves.”
