[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING THE RETIREMENT OF BOB ARNOULD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETE AGUILAR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 2022

  Mr. AGUILAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor one of California's 
favorite adopted Iowans. Bob Arnould, a former Speaker of the Iowa 
House of Representatives and fierce advocate for not-for-profit credit 
unions, has officially retired from his role as a Chief Advocate for 
his industry. I've had the pleasure of working with Bob and rise to 
honor both a good friend and a visionary leader.
  Bob started at the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues as the 
Director of State Government Affairs. His team was responsible for all 
credit union advocacy measures in the world's fifth-largest economy at 
a time when the state was shifting politically, and the financial 
services sector was under the microscope for every act of lending. 
Credit union advocacy was still new to the Legislature and Bob made it 
his mission to develop long lasting relationships with the state's 
leaders.
  This is where Bob grew the advocacy program from an organizational 
standpoint, which has changed California and Nevada credit unions, as 
well as the lives of their leaders and members. As he advanced to Vice 
President and eventually Senior Vice President of Advocacy, Bob 
expanded the three-person office to a full team devoted to advocacy's 
``three-legged stool'' as he calls it: lobbying, political action and 
grassroots engagement. He developed and fostered a team that would go 
on to become a force in Sacramento and Carson City. Legislators, some 
of them my colleagues now, knew that when credit unions walked in the 
door, they could not be an afterthought.
  Before coming to the Leagues, Bob was the Speaker of the Iowa State 
Assembly. For 20 years before that, he worked his way up from rank-and-
file Assemblyman, through committee chairs and party leaders, to a 
political career eventually culminating in the Speakership. He worked 
in the Iowa Caucuses and ran campaigns from his young 20's, until he 
came to California and the Leagues in the late '90s. To earn this level 
of trust among the Iowa community, he had to demonstrate a level of 
community devotion and something else rarely found in politicians: 
humility. Those who know and work with Bob to this day know that he 
embodies this.
  Encapsulating Bob's leadership throughout the California and Nevada 
Credit Union Leagues is not an easy task. He is a visionary leader, 
honest and decent person, but I'm proud to know him most as a good 
friend. His entire career has been dedicated to one mission statement, 
it's less about you, and all about them: the community, the people, 
everyone. Bob makes it 100 percent about you.
  Rarely has there been a leader with such humility who recognizes that 
all great leaders give away their credit to allow others to rise. That 
is how he has accomplished so much.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Speaker Bob Arnould.

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