NCUA Board Member Rodney E. Hood Statement on the Proposed Rule, Part 721, Charitable Donation Accounts

As Prepared for Delivery on May 25, 2023

I am delighted that we are considering today’s proposed rule. If today’s proposed rule is adopted, it would add certain veterans’ organizations as a qualified charity, which means that a federal credit union can contribute to veterans’ organizations using a charitable donation account.

The men and women of the U.S. armed forces — whether serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, or National Guard and Reserve forces – make big sacrifices for our country. We ask a lot of them, and they need to know the NCUA has their backs.

As a regulator, I’m proud to do whatever I can to support that mission in ways both big and small.  Additionally, May is Military Appreciation Month, where we can take the opportunity to express our gratitude to the men and women who serve our nation in uniform. I’d like to share with you a fitting quote from President Dwight David Eisenhower, who was, of course, a U.S. Army veteran of distinction himself.

In the first year of his presidency — 70 years ago this year, in 1953 — Eisenhower marked Armed Forces Day by noting that our “fighting forces help to maintain the strength and security of our nation and to provide the power for peace needed in the world; [so] it is fitting and proper that we devote one day each year to paying special tribute to those whose constancy and courage constitute one of the bulwarks guarding the freedom of this nation and the peace of the free world.”

That’s a lovely sentiment – but I would emphasize that recognizing the service of our military personnel, and honoring the debt that we owe them, is not the work of one day, or one week, or one month. It’s an ongoing commitment.  And while today’s proposed rule is a small proof of this commitment, it is still a step in the right direction.

I have no further comments or questions.