[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 92 (Wednesday, July 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1309-E1310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ENCOURAGING CONGRESS TO CONTINUE TO FUND INTERNATIONAL CREDIT UNION 
                          DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 7, 2004

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, more than 85 million Americans are familiar 
with the benefits offered by credit unions of a safe place to save, a 
place to get a good deal on a consumer or home mortgage loan and solid 
advice on how to manage their families' financial affairs. However, not 
everyone in the world has the same advantage of being able to choose to 
save and borrow at a credit union as we do here in the U.S. The World 
Council of Credit Unions is working on USAID-funded projects on six 
continents to develop and strengthen credit unions in ten countries. 
Current development projects have already resulted in nearly three 
million credit union members who have saved $1.6 billion and received 
affordable loans up to $1.3 billion in a number of developing countries 
such as the Philippines, Romania, Ecuador, Guatemala, Poland, Uganda, 
Rwanda, Uzbekistan and Mexico.
  I met recently with representatives from Mexico's two largest credit 
unions, Caja Popular Mexicana and Caja Libertad, men who spoke with me 
about how the World Council of Credit Unions, with funds from USAID and 
U.S. credit unions, has helped more than a million of Mexico's poorest 
citizens through access to the benefits of credit unions.
  The World Council of Credit Unions, as part of the credit union 
system that includes the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) in 
the U.S. and its affiliated state credit union leagues, is working in 
partnership to close the gap between people of the world that ``have 
more'' with those who ``have less.'' Today, 1.1 billion people on the 
planet ``have more'' and 5.2 billion ``have less.'' By 2050, 
projections indicate that while the ``have more'' number will remain 
constant, those ``having less'' will rise to 7.8 billion people. This 
widening gap represents a security risk to the U.S. Credit unions can 
help alleviate this crisis.

[[Page E1310]]

  The World Council of Credit Unions' Caja Popular Mexicana project is 
a $3.5 million four-year project funded by USAID's Office of 
Microenterprise Development. Since the project began in late 2001, 
membership in Caja Popular Mexicana has increased by more than 60 
percent and loan delinquency decreased by nearly 70 percent, enabling 
more of Mexico's citizens to access the services of a safer credit 
union. The World Council of Credit Unions provides Caja Libertad in-
house technical assistance to support the credit union's efforts to 
strengthen its operations, increase its outreach and better compete in 
the evolving Mexican financial market. Last year, Caja Libertad opened 
four rural microfinance branches to serve very poor women and 
strengthened its financial structure with increased provisions for 
delinquent loans.
  Both of these credit unions are involved with the International 
Remittance Network (IRnet), an international remittance product 
developed by the World Council of Credit Unions. Caja Popular Mexicana 
began distributing remittances in August 2003 on a pilot basis and 
increased distribution to three hundred branches by November of last 
year. As of May 2004, more than fifteen thousand remittances totaling 
$6.6 million were distributed. The overwhelming majority of receivers 
are women, and most receivers are credit union members. Non-members are 
encouraged to consider taking advantage of the benefits of membership, 
and are joining at a rate of 5 percent per month. Caja Libertad is on 
target to begin distributing remittances through IRnet later this year.

  Through IRnet, money is sent safely and affordably to friends and 
family members who use the remittances to pay for food, housing, 
education, to start new businesses and to save for the future. It is 
this last part that makes receiving international remittances at a safe 
and sound credit union so important. Receivers can safely and easily 
deposit a portion of the remittances into their credit union accounts. 
A new product being launched by one of these Mexican credit unions will 
mean a consistent remittance history is even basis for loan approval. 
Remittance distribution, through credit unions, is enabling the Mexican 
people to improve their financial standing exponentially.
  I congratulate Caja Popular Mexicana and Caja Libertad for their 
successes in becoming safer credit unions reaching out to more of 
Mexico's poorest people, and thank them for traveling to the U.S. to 
share with my colleagues and me the importance of U.S. support of their 
projects. I encourage Congress, through USAID and other avenues, to 
continue to fund international credit union development projects that 
promote the credit union ideal of ``people helping people to help 
themselves,'' and encourage the World Council of Credit Unions to 
continue its important work of making credit union membership available 
throughout the world, especially to those in underdeveloped countries.

                          ____________________