We are entering an advanced technological era on a very prosperous and positive note. The United States is riding high on the wave of the longest economic expansion in our history. Over the course of the last decade, nearly 20 million new jobs have been created. More Americans own homes than ever before. Unemployment is lower than it has been in 30 years.
Poverty rates are down and the crime rate is lower.
Public confidence in the country's financial system is quite literally priceless. It was painstakingly earned and must be fiercely guarded. Our challenge as a nation and within the credit union movement will be to bring more and more Americans into the picture, and to create opportunities where none previously existed. Credit unions have their part to play in this. Credit unions face the formidable task of extending credit union services to as many eligible consumers as possible.