Successful day on capitol hill for NACM.(member news)(National Association of Credit Management)

On April 25, among the lobbyists and constituents shuffling to and from Congressional offices in the nation's capitol, was a contingent of NACM members presenting their views on the important issues affecting business credit. The occasion was NACM's 2006 Advocacy Day, and it could be considered a success, judging from comments of the participants after it was over.

Robin Schauseil, CAE, NACM President, was appreciative of the efforts of those involved. "The enthusiasm and professionalism of our members helped to get our message across in a meaningful and personal way. I'm proud of how our members conducted themselves and the efforts they made to explain our positions on the critical issues confronting business credit that are before Congress this session."

Advocacy Day got off to an early start that morning with a briefing on issues by Jim Wise, NACM's Washington Representative. Wise mentioned the reorganizing of White House personnel that was taking place as well as how the majority leadership in the House and Senate was undergoing changes with the departure of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), former House Majority Leader and Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist (R-TN), who may be distracted by his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Regarding current issues, Wise pointed out that Congress is considering tightening security and imposing restrictions on personal and financial information gathered and held by consumer credit agencies and credit information brokers. He said it would be important to explain to members of Congress and their staff that there is a clear and important distinction between consumer and commercial trade credit; and that any restrictions on consumer credit information should not be applied to commercial credit ... that commercial credit data should not be as tightly regulated because it could hinder the free flow of information vital to making decisions on the extending of trade credit to customers. Wise also noted that businesses use such information solely to make credit decisions and are not sellers of that information--as is often the case with those involved in consumer credit data. "We don't resell information to information brokers," Wise affirmed.

Later that morning, participants in Advocacy Day heard from Paul Cancienne, a legislative assistant in the office of Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA), about several bills pending in the house that pertain to data security and related matters. In response to a question from Schauseil about whether it was possible for Congress to specify that personal data would be restricted to that which pertains to consumers, Cancienne said that Congress didn't want to narrow the definition of personal information in any way. Wise suggested, however, that language in the Bills could be clarified to distinguish between consumer and trade credit ...