Cordray Nomination

Floor Speech

Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of Rich Cordray's nomination as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and to urge a vote on his nomination.

The enactment of the Dodd-Frank law last Congress is a triumph for consumers. This landmark law reins in the abusive and predatory practices of bad actors in the financial industry and protects consumers through the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The CFPB will empower consumers by giving them the knowledge and tools they need to make responsible financial decisions and will level the playing field by policing and curtailing the unfair practices of some unscrupulous banks and financial institutions. I applauded the creation of the CFPB and have heard from Connecticut residents who want the consumer protections that the CFPB will provide.

Last month, President Obama nominated former Ohio attorney general Rich Cordray to serve as the Director of the CFPB. This is an inspired choice. Rich has dedicated his career to protecting and educating consumers: he has vigorously pursued lenders that employed abusive and fraudulent foreclosure practices like robo-signing and he has repeatedly gone after financial institutions that weakened employees' pension funds by concealing material information from investors.

Recognizing that informed consumers are empowered consumers, Rich has also sought to improve financial literacy among Ohio residents by working to include personal finance education in Ohio schools.

Rich's nomination has been widely praised, even by those he has clashed with. Former Senator Mike DeWine, who ran against Rich for State attorney general last year, called Rich ``very well-qualified for this job.''

As Connecticut's attorney general, I worked alongside Rich, and I know he is a true consumer advocate and an outstanding nominee to lead this critical new agency.

Despite Rich's impressive background and qualifications, some of my colleagues are refusing to allow a confirmation vote on his nomination. They do this not because they doubt Rich's qualifications, but because they resent the agency he has been nominated to lead. Earlier this year, 44 Senators wrote President Obama and threatened to block any nominee for the CFPB until the agency's structure and authority was gutted. Now, they are following through on that threat.

This is a bad precedent. The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank law passed by the previous Congress and signed by President Obama. This legislation was not rushed through; it was debated for months and months, with members given plenty of time to criticize the bill, offer amendments, or vote no on the legislation. Eventually, the bill passed. Sixty Senators voted for it, including several who are now seeking to block the nominee for an agency they voted to create.

Some of my colleagues may not like the law or the CFPB. I respect that. But their course of action should be to introduce legislation to change the law, not to shirk their constitutional duty by refusing to allow a confirmation vote.

Source