[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     TRIBUTE TO CHARLES M. WHITNEY

  Mr. D'AMATO. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Charles 
M. Whitney, president and CEO of the New York State Credit Union League 
and its affiliates. Chuck recently marked 20 years of service to the 
credit union movement, and it's a milestone that I believe should not 
go unrecognized.
  His career supports the idea that history is biography. To tell his 
story is to tell the success story of the credit union movement in New 
York over the last 20 years--one of extraordinary vision and undaunted 
spirit in the face of change.
  In 1974, Chuck joined the staff of the New York State Credit Union 
League as administrative services manager. By striving to meet the 
needs of credit unions, Chuck recognized that there were numerous other 
services the league could provide to enable credit unions to better 
serve their members. The opportunity to follow through on those goals 
came when he was named president in 1985.
  Chuck marshaled support and helped create a broad spectrum of 
services to meet credit unions' needs. Plans for a mortgage service 
corporation, a credit card operation, a statewide automated teller 
machine [ATM], network and shared service centers were visions soon 
realized.
  During Chuck's tenure with the credit union movement, a financial 
institution also evolved at which credit unions in New York pooled 
their resources to provide high-quality, cost-effective investment 
services for each other--in short, a credit union's credit union.
  In less than a decade, Empire's Corporate Federal Credit Union's 
assets passed the billion-dollar mark, and due in large part to Chuck's 
stewardship, the corporate credit union established a standard of 
excellence that remains second to none.
  Today, with Chuck at the helm, the league and its affiliates provide 
a broad spectrum of products and services to its more than 700-member 
credit unions. While adding new services on the cutting edge of 
technology. Chuck maintained an array of programs to assist credit 
unions with their day-to-day operations. In short, the vision Chuck 
had--one of a central entity where credit unions can find virtually 
every service they need--is a reality.
  Credit unions are far more viable today because Chuck set plans in 
motion years ago. Consumers have been the ultimate benefactor. Some 3.2 
million New Yorkers owe Chuck a debt of gratitude for his efforts to 
make their credit union the alternative, cooperative resource of choice 
for financial services.
  In addition to his involvement on the State level, Chuck was recently 
elected as chairperson of U.S. Central Credit Union. U.S. Central is 
the main depository for the Corporate Credit Union Network, comprised 
of Empire and 41 other corporate credit unions that provide financial 
services to the 13,000-plus credit unions across the country.
  Chuck is a thrift representative of the Advisory Board of the New 
York Federal Reserve Bank, is vice chairman of the Association of 
Credit Union League Executive [ACULE], and chairman of the Credit Union 
Legislation Action Council [CULAC]. He also serves on various Credit 
Union National Associations [CUNA ] and ACULA committees.
  Throughout the credit union movement, Chuck has nurtured something 
without which no organization can long endure: a sense that problems 
are tractable. He has done the most important thing a president and CEO 
of an organization can do: given the people to whom he is responsible, 
hopeful, and yet creative, outlook toward the future.
  Madam President, if you wonder who real leaders are, you only need to 
look to those who have real followers. Persons who follow a leader onto 
a path of life, those who adopt careers where they navigate by stars 
someone else taught them to see--are what makes a real leader. Chuck is 
one such person.
  For the past 20 years, credit unions have been embellished by his 
vision and undaunted spirit in the face of change. Mr. President, I ask 
that my colleagues pause from today's deliberations and join with me to 
pay tribute to Chuck Whitney.

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