[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2666-S2667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     EXECUTIVE CALENDAR--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the nomination of 
Jay Clayton to serve as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange 
Commission. Americans deserve a Chair who will run the SEC on their 
behalf, not for the benefit of Wall Street banks and big corporations. 
Far too many folks in this town have collective amnesia about the costs 
of the last financial crisis: $19 trillion lost in household wealth, 8 
million jobs lost, more than 15 million foreclosures, hundreds and 
hundreds of them in the Presiding Officer's and my State.
  Those numbers don't seem to get better as time goes by. All over the 
country, in Ohio and elsewhere, families want strong rules that prevent 
banks from doing as they please, enriching themselves at the expense of 
others and then handing the bill to American taxpayers. The most basic 
duty of the Chair of the SEC is leading his fellow Commissioners 
through tough issues and policing Wall Street.
  Mr. Clayton will fall woefully short. His law firm, his former 
clients will create a steady stream of conflicts of interest, forcing 
him to recuse himself in cases involving former clients for 2 of the 4 
years he would serve as Chair.
  He will be sitting on the sidelines on potential enforcement actions 
because of his representation in the work he did prior to being at the 
SEC. That is not draining the swamp. Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, 
Royal Bank of Canada, UBS--he will have to recuse himself on all of 
those cases. That does not sound like someone who will be in there 
fighting for the American people or working to protect America's 
financial markets.
  It is not a theoretical concern. Former Chair White faced conflicts 
and recusals in more than four dozen enforcement investigations in her 
first 2 years. In those cases, big banks, like Bank of America, used 
those recusals to their advantage when the Commission was deadlocked. 
That undermines the Commission's authority. That is why I opposed Ms. 
White for her position--one of the same reasons I am opposing Mr. 
Clayton. Instead of confirming the same kind of nominees we have had in 
the past, with dozens of conflicts of interest and recusals, we should 
be considering someone who actually will work to protect investors.
  At his hearing, Mr. Clayton failed to provide clear answers to 
questions about how he would approach enforcement matters. He gave 
empty answers about punishing bad actors and individual accountability.
  Accounting fraud, selling toxic derivatives, and corporate foreign 
corruption usually involve senior management and happen because the 
tone from the top allows it to happen. Mr. Clayton does not see it that 
way. He spent his career representing--excuse me--protecting Wall 
Street banks. That history guides his view on how SEC enforcement 
should work.
  According to Mr. Clayton, the SEC should proceed with caution, even 
before opening an investigation. That is not his job. His job is to 
open investigations when it looks like there is wrongdoing. He says it 
would have serious adverse impacts on respondents. He has it totally 
backward. Not investigating companies that may be committing fraud or 
other abuses because it might create problems for them--how about the 
American public?
  How about the neighborhood I live in in Cleveland, OH, 44105? That 
ZIP Code had more foreclosures than any ZIP Code in the United States 
in 2007. That is partly because of a lack of enforcement at the SEC. I 
see it up close. I know what that means to our communities. I know what 
it means to our country.
  Acting Chair Piwowar began undermining the SEC's enforcement division 
in his first month on the job. He reversed steps taken by the two 
previous Chairs that empowered the SEC's enforcement staff to open and 
pursue investigations.
  I am concerned about Dodd-Frank rules. If he is confirmed, he will 
have

[[Page S2667]]

to answer for the unilateral rollback of final Wall Street reform rules 
that this acting SEC Chair, Mr. Piwowar, has already undertaken. Wall 
Street reform rules requiring disclosure of CEO-to-worker pay ratios--
all the kinds of things that this Congress overwhelmingly decided 
Congress should do and the SEC should do.
  For years, Congress has funded the SEC below the levels requested, 
despite more responsibilities and increasing marketplace complexity and 
sophistication. I am concerned about Mr. Clayton's likely behavior in 
that regard also.
  Last, public service is important. It is valuable. It should not be 
viewed as a chance to push the favorite policies of big corporations. 
That is what we have seen too often in this town.
  This nominee, Mr. Clayton, who comes from Wall Street, who is part of 
Wall Street, we know from past experience will protect Wall Street at 
the SEC--the wrong thing to do. From his background, his answers to the 
questions in the committee's hearing and questions for the record, I am 
not convinced that Mr. Clayton comes close to being the best person for 
the job. I will oppose his nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.