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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:35 am Post subject: N.C. leader joins push to halt BofA program
N.C. leader joins push to halt BofA program
Tampa Bay Business Journal - 9:04 AM EDT Monday, March 19, 2007
Tampa Bay's second largest bank has gained a hometown foe to plans that could lead it to do business with illegal aliens.
U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick is joining the fight to shut down Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp.'s program to give credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers -- in more ways than one.
The seven-term Charlotte congresswoman is co-sponsoring legislation that would kill the controversial credit-card offer and she also is pulling her banking business from BofA (NYSE: BAC), one of her biggest political donors.
"I have been with them for a long time, but this was just the straw that breaks the camel's back in my mind," said Myrick, who said she is in the process of moving her accounts to Wachovia Corp. because the BofA program launched in Los Angeles is likely to be rolled out nationally. "If I believe something, I'm going to stand by my principles. I'm not going to be a hypocrite and have my banking there and feel the way I do."
The bank switch has Tampa Bay applications, where, like in Charlotte, the two banks are major rivals.
As of June 30, the most recent date for which information is available, BofA had 172 offices, $15.3 billion in deposits and a 22.68 percent market share in Tampa Bay, putting it ahead of Wachovia (NYSE: WB), with 187 offices, $11.4 billion in deposits and an 16.87 percent market share, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The bill Myrick is backing would limit the forms of identification banks can accept from customers. It would directly affect the BofA effort, which has received criticism because it offers credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, a group that can include illegal immigrants.
BofA Chief Executive Officer Ken Lewis has noted the bank is operating within the law, and he said BofA does not want to discriminate against customers who are eligible for its services. While he has conceded illegal immigrants could qualify for the program, he has said more than 80 percent of the participants in the program have Social Security numbers.
A bank spokeswoman declined to comment.
Myrick is co-sponsoring a bill introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, earlier this month. The Photo Identification Security Act would place restrictions on the forms of identification banks can accept before opening an account for a customer -- only Social Security cards, passports or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services photo ID cards would be allowed.
Rep. Mel Watt, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee and represents North Carolina's 12th District, said it's unreasonable to ask financial institutions to check the immigration status of its customers. While he calls illegal immigration an "emotional issue," he said he hasn't received much feedback from constituents regarding the BofA program.
"It's not an issue that I think is high on a lot of people's radar screens," he said.
Under the Patriot Act, banks are allowed to open accounts for customers who don't have Social Security numbers but who provide alternate forms of identification, such as an individual taxpayer identification number or a matricula consular, an ID card provided by the Mexican consulate to its citizens.
In late 2005, Myrick sponsored the Transportation Revenue Ultimatum Enforcement ID Act, a bill that would have prevented states from accepting individual taxpayer identification numbers as proof of identification from individuals applying for a driver's license.
The controversial Real ID Act was passed into law that same year, and it aims to tighten standards around driver's licenses. But earlier this month, the White House pushed its implementation back until 2009.
"My concern is the same it's been from day one -- we need to know who's in this country and have positive identification of people," Myrick said, adding the Blackburn bill is "another step in that direction."
BofA and Lewis were contributors to Myrick's campaign during the 2006 election cycle. Myrick, who represents North Carolina's Ninth District, received $10,000 from two of the bank's political action committees, as well as $4,900 from Lewis personally, according to Federal Election Commission data.
That $14,900 made BofA the second-largest contributor to the Myrick campaign during the 2006 election cycle, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group that tracks money in politics. Wachovia -- its political action committees and employees -- gave $19,800 to Myrick's campaign and was her largest contributor.
Myrick said she notified BofA in February that she planned to speak out against the bank's pilot program.
"They just said that they understood that I had to do what I had to do," she said. "I don't make my decisions based on who's going to support me or who's going to give me money or anything like that. I make my decisions on what I believe and on what the people in my district believe and what I think is right."
Although BofA has received some backlash, analysts have called the pilot program innovative and say it could help the bank gain share in the fast-growing Hispanic market in the United States. In an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, Lewis wrote that the pilot program was not aimed at illegal immigrants and will continue despite the objections of some customers.
Before BofA launched its program, Citigroup (NYSE: C) had been offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers and Wells Fargo & Co. NYSE: WFC) has said it is exploring the idea. Wachovia has said it has no such plans.
"I think it's a very smart move by them," Myrick said of her new bank.
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:37 am Post subject: Myrick joins push to halt BofA program:Charlotte congresswom
Myrick joins push to halt BofA program:
Charlotte congresswoman also closes accounts at bank
By Will Boye
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET March 18, 2007
U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick is joining the fight to shut down Bank of America Corp.'s program to give credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers -- and in more ways than one.
The seven-term Charlotte congresswoman is co-sponsoring legislation that would kill the controversial credit-card offer, and she also is pulling her banking business from BofA, one of her biggest political donors.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
"I have been with them for a long time, but this was just the straw that breaks the camel's back in my mind," says Myrick, who says she is in the process of moving her accounts to Wachovia Corp. because of the BofA program that was launched in Los Angeles and is likely to be rolled out nationally. "If I believe something, I'm going to stand by my principles. I'm not going to be a hypocrite and have my banking there and feel the way I do."
The bill Myrick is backing would limit the forms of identification banks can accept from customers. It would directly affect the BofA effort, which has received criticism because it offers credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, a group that can include illegal immigrants.
BofA Chief Executive Ken Lewis has noted the bank is operating within the law, and he says BofA does not want to discriminate against customers who are eligible for its services. While he has conceded illegal immigrants could qualify for the program, he has said more than 80% of the participants in the program have Social Security numbers.
A bank spokeswoman declines to comment.
Myrick is co-sponsoring a bill introduced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, earlier this month. The Photo Identification Security Act would place restrictions on the forms of identification banks can accept before opening an account for a customer -- only Social Security cards, passports or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services photo ID cards would be allowed.
Rep. Mel Watt, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee and represents North Carolina's 12th District, says it's unreasonable to ask financial institutions to check the immigration status of its customers. While he calls illegal immigration an "emotional issue," he says he hasn't received much feedback from constituents regarding the BofA program.
"It's not an issue that I think is high on a lot of people's radar screens," he says.
Under the Patriot Act, banks are allowed to open accounts for customers who don't have Social Security numbers but who provide alternate forms of identification, such as an individual taxpayer identification number or a matricula consular, an ID card provided by the Mexican consulate to its citizens.
In late 2005, Myrick sponsored the Transportation Revenue Ultimatum Enforcement ID Act, a bill that would have prevented states from accepting individual taxpayer identification numbers as proof of identification from individuals applying for a driver's license.
The controversial Real ID Act was passed into law that same year, and it aims to tighten standards around driver's licenses. But earlier this month, the White House pushed its implementation back until 2009.
"My concern is the same it's been from day one -- we need to know who's in this country and have positive identification of people," Myrick says, adding the Blackburn bill is "another step in that direction."
BofA and Lewis were contributors to Myrick's campaign during the 2006 election cycle. Myrick, who represents North Carolina's Ninth District, received $10,000 from two of the bank's political action committees, as well as $4,900 from Lewis personally, according to Federal Election Commission data.
That $14,900 made BofA the second-largest contributor to the Myrick campaign during the 2006 election cycle, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group that tracks money in politics. Wachovia -- its political action committees and employees -- gave $19,800 to Myrick's campaign and was her largest contributor.
Myrick says she notified BofA in February that she planned to speak out against the bank's pilot program.
"They just said that they understood that I had to do what I had to do," she says. "I don't make my decisions based on who's going to support me or who's going to give me money or anything like that. I make my decisions on what I believe and on what the people in my district believe and what I think is right."
Although BofA has received some backlash, analysts have called the pilot program innovative and say it could help the bank gain share in the fast-growing Hispanic market in the United States. In an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, Lewis wrote that the pilot program was not aimed at illegal immigrants and will continue despite the objections of some customers.
Before BofA launched its program, Citigroup Inc. had been offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, and Wells Fargo & Co. says it is exploring the idea. Wachovia has said it has no such plans.
"I think it's a very smart move by them," Myrick says of her new bank.
2007 Charlotte Business Journal
The ITIN Individual Taxpayer Identification Number exists for the purpose of recording and taxing passive income made by individuals living outside of the United States. As such using an ITIN for income from a bank account is totally legitimate.
An illegal alien using it for wage income from some job inside the boundary of the United States is not legitimate.
If the Matricula Consular which has a legitimate purpose helping Consuls find a file in a cabinet system is not considered adequate Identification for a Mexican bank then it should not be considered so by ours.
I think any legal residents of the United States who are living here and are of Mexican descent or citizenship should be able to buy Mexican bonds.
It's always nice to see a politician stick to his or her convictions!
I like to see it when Politicians are convicted AKA Jim Black of NC. Too bad Myrick wasnt this tough on CAFTA. She bent over for her "contributors" on that one. _________________ Buy American
www.buydirectusa.com/shop/ http://tinyurl.com/bpdo5
Joined: Jun 01, 2006 Posts: 12995 Location: North Carolina
Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:49 am Post subject:
You're right, jp_48504. Several of our representatives in NC sold their souls in support of CAFTA. Rep. Myrick, Rep. Hayes, and Sen. Burr originally said they would not support CAFTA, but then turned around and voted for it. Someone twisted their arm in a back room deal by promising goodies (pork). This sort of situation happens all the time, that is why we have good reason to worry regarding the illegal immigration and border security issues. I'm sure, as I speak, arms are being twisted and promises are being made to gain support for a Bush guest worker program and amnesty.
Quote:
N.C. split on CAFTA
Friday, July 29th, 2005
Charlotte Observer
Rep. Hayes, what caused last-minute change of heart?
Last week U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes told the Observer he was "flat-out, completely, horizontally opposed to CAFTA." Earlier this month he said, "There is no way I could vote for CAFTA." Before the vote, he told a radio reporter "a `no' vote on CAFTA is the right vote for me."
It's hard to be any more firmly committed than that, right? But Wednesday night he voted "yes." He provided the edge in the 217-215 House vote.
As Sen. Jesse Helms might have said, "Where do you stand, Robin?"
He says he intended to vote "no" Wednesday night but changed his mind after House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., promised, "You tell me what you need and we're going to do it." Rep. Hayes says he voted "yes" in return for the promise of benefits that were "really, really significant for the people back home, to improve their lives."
What benefits? He says the list is a work in progress. Well, Rep. Hayes, when you've got it, we'd like to share it with your constituents.
This is the second time Rep. Hayes, a Republican whose 8th District stretches from Charlotte to Fayetteville, has had a last-minute change of heart on a trade vote. He cast a similar tie-breaker in 2001 to give President Bush so-called Fast Track trading authority.
As for CAFTA, as trade pacts go it's a small deal, and it contains both costs and benefits for North Carolina. Many in the textile and apparel industries opposed it, but many others didn't. Many N.C. farmers and food processors supported it, seeing the Central America-Dominican Republic area as a potential new market.
The state's congressional delegation was similarly split. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr, both Republicans, voted for it (though Sen. Burr in his 2004 campaign said he opposed it). In this state's 13-member House delegation, only Rep. Hayes and Rep. Sue Myrick of Charlotte, also a Republican, voted "yes." Overall, 202 out of 231 Republicans but only 15 Democrats voted for it.
What puts Rep. Hayes on the spot is not that he voted "yes" but that he'd promised and promised and promised to vote "no." Constituents thought they knew where he stood. Then, late in the night, he suddenly moved. They're entitled to ask what the heck happened.
Rep. Hayes, send us 800 words or so explaining exactly what benefits your district will get for your vote, and we'll tell them.
How they voted
YES: N.C. Republicans Robin Hayes and Sue Myrick. S.C. Republicans Graham Barnett, Henry Brown, Bob Inglis and Joe Wilson. NO: N.C. Democrats G.K. Butterfield, Bob Etheridge, Mike McIntyre, Brad Miller, David Price and Mel Watt. N.C. Republicans Howard Coble, Virginia Foxx, Walter Jones, Patrick McHenry. and Charles Taylor. S.C. Democrats John Spratt and Jim Clyburn.
Thanks for bringing the CAFTA vote to my attention, I had forgotten about it. Rep. Myrick has done, and is doing, a lot for our cause, but as you pointed out - she hasn't been perfect on the issue.
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