Pub. 10 2015-2016 Issue 2

July/August 2015 11 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members.  President’s Message — continued from page 7 Reach Richard J. Baier at (402) 474-1555 or richard.baier@nebankers.org. traversed the city. Finally, I was surprised by the strong respect and personal bonds this class has developed with their fellow classmates, despite coming from very diverse backgrounds. I look forward to working with this group of energetic banking leaders to help Nebraska banks prepare for financing the dreams of future Nebraskans. Within the halls of Congress and the back rooms of our regulators, there seems to be a growing appetite for true bank regulatory relief. However, every discussionwith these groups seems to include a long list of caveats. Many D.C. political pundits, for example, suggest that a small window exists to pass bank regulatory relief before national political attention turns to the pending presidential election. The NBA is actively working with our congressional delegation to impress upon them the need to support the various banking regulatory relief proposals pending before the House and the Senate. We are fortunate that Sen. Ben Sasse sits on both the Senate Banking and Agricultural Committees, placing him at a crossroads to offer leadership around both regulatory relief and discussions about the expansion of the FarmCredit System. Similarly, Sen. Deb Fischer has garnered political support as she has focused on bipartisan solutions to some of our nation’s most difficult challenges. Rep. Adrian Smith currently sits on the important House Ways and Means Committee, which will have jurisdiction over proposed tax changes, including a review of credit union tax exemptions. HouseMember Jeff Fortenberry has a seat on the Appropria- tions Committee and the Subcommittee onEnergy andWater. These topics are fundamentally important to our state’s No. 1 industry, agriculture. Finally, newly elected Congressman Brad Ashford sits on theHouse Agriculture Committee, where he is encouraging oversight hearings on the FarmCredit Sys- tem. Congressman Ashford also has aggressively agreed to sponsor several of the proposed House regulatory relief bills. Now is not the time to take the support of our congres- sional delegates for granted. I am challenging every NBA member to draft a quick email or make a phone call to every member of our delegation encouraging real regulatory relief that allows our industry to get back to successfully financ- ing the dreams of our fellow Nebraskans. Likewise, in your written and personal contacts, encourage our senators and representatives to aggressively support the proposed Govern- ment Accounting Office review of the Farm Credit System as well as a complete financial analysis of the credit union tax exemption impact on the federal budget. Our delegates need to understand our level of interest and commitment to regulatory relief!  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. GoNebraskaBlue.com 888-656-2757 • Health insurance • Medicare supplement • Dental insurance When life happens, trust Blue Trust Blue - Nebraska Bankers (3-75x9-75).indd 1 6/12/2015 10:51:14 AM