September 25, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks E1853 To further reach kids on a grassroots level, announcements and provide speakers for engineers as we enter the millennium. It pro- Nickelodeon will kick-off ``The Big Help-on-the- other organizations and citizens' groups vides tuition and expenses for the senior un- Road,'' this Sunday in Washington. This mo- across the State. They hope these actions will dergraduate year and 2 years of graduate bile Big Help headquarters features video- raise awareness of the lawsuit abuse issue school. STARS awards can total $100,000 based interactive kiosks, on-site volunteer ac- and help legislators arrive at fair and equitable each of the 3 years. Information about the pro- tivities, and information about local volunteer legislative solutions. gram may be obtained by writing: Betty Irby, opportunities. ``The Big Help-on-the-Road'' will Gov. George Voinovich has declared Sep- Senior Analyst of ARL, U.S. Army Research travel to local communities across the coun- tember 22±27 as Lawsuit Abuse Awareness Laboratory, 2800 Power Mill Road, Adelphi, tryÐurban and rural, large and smallÐto Week throughout the State of Ohio. I want to MD 20783, ATTN: AMSRL±SP. I encourage champion the spirit of kid's voluntarism. commend all the individuals who are involved all interested parties to learn more about this I hope you will join me in saluting Nickel- in Ohio Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse for valuable program. odeon and its partner organizations in ``The their dedication and commitment. They are f Big Help.'' These include: 4-H, American helping elected Federal and State officials ad- Camping Association, The American Humane dress serious issues. I commend their work on THE CREDIT UNION AUDIT Association, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Amer- behalf of our State. IMPROVEMENT ACT ica, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the f Caption Center, Earth Force, Easter Seals, HON. BILL McCOLLUM TRIBUTE TO VIRGIL MURPHY Feed the Children, Girl Scouts of the USA, OF FLORIDA Girls Inc., Habitat for Humanity, Keep America HON. JAY W. JOHNSON IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Beautiful, National P.T.A., National Wildlife Thursday, September 25, 1997 Federation, Points of Light Foundation, Ronald OF WISCONSIN McDonald Charities, Safe America Founda- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. MCCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today tion, Second Harvest, The U.S. Department of Thursday, September 25, 1997 in support of legislation, the Credit Union Audit Education, Youth Service America, YMCA of Improvement Act of 1997, I am introducing Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I with my colleague, Mr. BACHUS of Alabama. the USA, and YWCA of the USA. rise today to pay tribute to Virgil Murphy, an I'd like to commend Herb Scannell, presi- As Members of this body know, our Nation's honored leader and public servant from Bowl- insured credit unions are a vital part of our fi- dent of Nickelodeon, for his corporate leader- er, WI. ship and commitment to empowering kids to nancial services system. Therefore, the accu- Virgil is currently the president of the Stock- racy of their financial records is of utmost im- make a difference. I would also like to com- bridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians in mend Marva Smalls, senior vice president at portance. It is important to the people trusting northeast Wisconsin and he is retiring at the their money with these institutions, to the reg- Nickelodeon, and a constituent of mine, for or- age of 77, after a lifetime of service and ganizing ``The Big Help'' program. ulators doing their job and to the taxpayers achievement. He is a stalwart fixture in the who actually ensure these institutions. Finally, I would like to salute the millions of community, having held the positions of vice kids across the country who are volunteering It is with this in mind that I introduce the president, tribal treasurer, tribal council mem- Credit Union Audit Improvement Act. My legis- their time and efforts to make their world a ber, housing director, and chairman of the Mo- better place. They should serve as an exam- lation would do several things. It would amend hican Elderly Steering Committee. the Federal Credit Union Act [the act] to re- ple to all of us. Even in retirement, Virgil will continue to be f quire each federally insured Federal and State an honored elder and his advice and leader- credit union to: prepare financial statements in OHIO CITIZENS AGAINST LAWSUIT ship will be relied upon for the tribe's future accordance with generally accepted account- ABUSE endeavors. ing principles [GAAP] and to have an inde- His concern for the tribe's economic well- pendent audit performed by an independent li- HON. PAUL E. GILLMOR being and unity is well-known. His devotion for censed accountant in accordance with gen- his family is plain to all who know him. His erally accepted auditing standards [GAAS]; OF OHIO service to his tribe and to his country as a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES prepare an annual written assertion about the U.S. Army veteran will always be remem- effectiveness of the credit union's internal con- Thursday, September 25, 1997 bered. trols over financial reporting; obtain a written Please join me in thanking Virgil Murphy for Mr. GILLMOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reportÐor attestation reportÐfrom an inde- his years and years of dedication and wishing acknowledge a group of Ohioans who have pendent licensed accountant regarding man- him the best in the future. come together to speak out on the issue of agement's report on internal controls; and pre- f lawsuit abuse. Because of their ongoing con- pare an annual written assertion about the cern, local citizens have volunteered their time U.S. ARMY RESEARCH LABORA- credit union's compliance with specified laws to organize Ohio Citizens Against Lawsuit TORY ANNOUNCES SCIENCE AND and regulations. Abuse [OCALA] and to undertake a public TECHNOLOGY ACADEMIC REC- Under the legislation, the National Credit awareness campaign about what they per- OGNITION SYSTEM [STARS] FEL- Union Administration [NCUA] would be able to ceive as the problems of lawsuit abuse. LOWS exempt smaller credit unions with less than Based in Columbus, Ohio Citizens Against $10 million in assets. The bill would also spe- Lawsuit Abuse focuses their efforts in inform- HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY cifically require credit unions to engage only those external persons who meet applicable ing and educating Ohio residents about an OF MISSOURI issue that has statewide and national implica- state licensing requirements to perform serv- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES tions for all Americans. The costs of lawsuit ices subject to these requirements. abuse can include higher costs for consumer Thursday, September 25, 1997 This legislation is in response to a final rul- products and services, higher medical ex- Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, recently, Dr. John ing by the NCUA on financial audits of credit penses, greater taxes, and fewer jobs due to Lyons, Director, U.S. Army Research Labora- unions. The final rule, effective December 31, lost business expansion and foregone product tory [ARL] announced the first recipients of 1996, allows compensated, nonlicensed per- development. This is not a new concern for ARL's Science and Technology Academic sons to audit a credit union's financial informa- many of us in the House of Representatives, Recognition System [STARS] fellowships for tion and internal controls. This is in direct con- but one which must be addressed. students enrolled in historically black colleges travention to most State accountancy statutes, OCALA wants to help prevent unnecessary and universities and other minority institutions. which require auditors to be licensed. Several lawsuits that do more harm than good and I am pleased to congratulate this year's recipi- State boards of accountancy, including the bring balance, fairness, responsibility, and re- ents: LaDonna Nettles from Gautier, MS, one in my home State of Florida, have written straint to our court system. OCALA supporters Makeda Smith from Birmingham, AL, and in protest of this rule. Florida State law states believe that through education, there will be Theodore Anthony from Baltimore, MD. Both that only certified public accountants can at- change in public understanding, attitudes, and Ms. Nettles and Ms. Smith are students at Xa- test as an expert in accountancy to the reli- behavior, and they have the opportunity to vier University and Mr. Anthony is a student at ability or fairness of presentation of financial play a vital role in reforming the legal system. Morgan State University. information. The NCUA, in response to several This nonprofit grassroots organization has The STARS initiative is designed to in- States' inquiries, has made clear its intention raised local funds to run educational media crease the number of minority scientists and to preempt these State laws, support a credit E1854 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð Extensions of Remarks September 25, 1997 union's right to hire anyone it deems qualified The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that we spite these staggering statistics, prostate can- to perform the audit. This seems oddÐafter cannot allow nonlicensed persons to do exter- cer has received a fraction of the resources all, who is going to be a better judge of who nal auditing at insured credit unions. After all, dedicated to other forms of cancer. The Pros- is qualified? A credit union supervisory board what's the point if they do not provide the reli- tate Cancer Research Stamp Act would sup- made up of volunteers who may or may not ability that one performed by a licensed indi- port research into the prevention, detection, have any background in financial statements vidual? There is no good reason why we and early diagnosis of this deadly disease.