[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4982-S4983]
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, the Federal Reserve's job is to ensure the 
economy works for average Americans; that Wall Street doesn't again 
crash the economy and decimate worker pensions; that banks can't cheat 
families out of their hard-earned savings; that monetary policy helps 
workers to find and keep a job that pays a living wage.
  During his time in the Bush administration and his role at the Fed so 
far, Randy Quarles, nominated as Vice Chair of Supervision, has done 
the opposite. Time and again, Mr. Quarles has sided with Wall Street 
and not with workers.
  Look what happened with the stress tests. The Fed allowed the seven 
largest banks to redirect $96 billion that should be used to pay 
workers, to reduce fees for consumers, and protect taxpayers from 
bailouts. Instead, they plowed that money into share buybacks and 
dividends that reward--you guessed it--wealthy executives and 
investors. Two banks had capital below the required amounts. Those 
banks failed the tests, but they got passing grades anyway.
  Now the Fed is about to propose new rules to make stress tests even 
easier next year--making them less frequent and giving banks more 
leeway to design the exams they will then much more likely pass.
  The Fed, under Mr. Quarles' leadership, wants to loosen limits on Big 
Bank borrowing, a move opposed by former Republican FDIC Chair Sheila 
Bair and former Vice Chair Tom Hoenig.
  The Fed is proposing to weaken the Volcker rule--the rule that stops 
big banks from taking big risks with Americans' money--and the Fed is 
undercutting the role of FSOC and oversight of foreign megabanks that 
may soon join a proposal to undermine the Community Reinvestment Act. 
Again, this is a boon to Wall Street and a punch in the gut to American 
workers.
  Wall Street simply doesn't respect the dignity of work. Data from 
last week tells a story Ohioans know too well--big banks and 
corporations are doing better than ever, while workers still haven't 
gotten a meaningful raise.
  So now we install another nominee--this time for 14 years--who 
doesn't seem to understand that workers are the backbone of our 
economy? Mr. Quarles missed the 2008 crisis the last time he was in 
charge a decade ago. He spent his time at the Fed recently doing favors 
for Wall Street at the expense of working families. Americans cannot 
afford a nominee who fails American workers and homeowners and 
taxpayers.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I rise to speak out against the 
nomination of Randal Quarles to be a member of the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System.
  Mr. Quarles served in the Bush administration's Treasury Department 
in the years that led up to the financial crisis of 2008. His failure 
to take action to prevent this crisis led to hundreds of thousands of 
foreclosures and evictions in my home State of Nevada. Nevada was 
ground zero for the financial crisis. We were the hardest hit of any 
State in the country. We had the highest foreclosure rate for 62 months 
straight, and we had the highest number of underwater mortgages. Banks 
took the homes of more than 219,000 Nevada families. Anyone driving 
through parts of Las Vegas and Reno in 2009 could see boarded-up 
houses, ``for sale'' signs, and empty lots everywhere. On many streets, 
you would see more houses in foreclosure than not.
  I was attorney general in Nevada at this time. My team and I did 
everything we could to fight for homeowners and help them save their 
homes. We sued the big banks and secured $1.9 billion to create the 
Home Again: Nevada Homeowner Relief Program to help Nevadans stay in 
their homes.
  As all of this was going on, I knew there was only so much we could 
do at the State level. We needed real change at the Federal level to 
prevent the financial crisis from ever happening again. The Federal 
regulators should have protected Nevada homeowners, but instead they 
protected the big banks. I ran for a seat in the Senate because I 
wanted to change the system. I wanted to put rules in place that 
protected Nevadans, not Wall Street bankers. That is why I cannot, in 
good conscience, support Randal Quarles' nomination to a 14-year term 
as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.
  Randal Quarles was one of those policymakers in the Bush 
administration who let the big banks write their own rules. Maybe 
things would be different if he had learned the lessons of the 
financial crisis, if he had demonstrated any understanding that radical 
financial deregulation only helps the big banks, but Randal Quarles has 
been sitting on the Fed's Board of Governors since October of last 
year. Since then, he has advocated for policies that weaken oversight 
of the financial system, let big banks gamble with depositors' money, 
and undermine protections for consumers and homeowners.
  Over a decade has passed since the rules he helped write caused 
hundreds of thousands of Nevadans to lose their homes, and he still 
hasn't learned his lesson. He is pushing the same agenda that led to 
the financial crisis in 2008. The mistakes he made as a member of the 
Bush administration devastated families and communities in my home 
State.
  Now the Senate is about to reward him with a position--the Vice Chair 
of Supervision--that he will hold for the next 14 years. He will be the 
lead on writing the rules that govern Wall Street and the banks. I 
don't trust him to put families first. I don't believe he will make our 
financial systems safer and more fair. Randal Quarles shouldn't be 
allowed to oversee our financial system for 14 minutes. I refuse to 
rubberstamp his nomination for a position that lasts 14 years.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the 
nomination of the Honorable Randal Quarles to be a member of the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
  The Senate has already confirmed Mr. Quarles--this Congress--to serve 
as a member of the Federal Reserve with a bipartisan vote of 65 to 32, 
but that term expired on February 1, 2018, and he has been serving as a 
member of the Board in a holdover capacity since. Confirming Mr. 
Quarles to a new 14-year term will provide needed stability at the 
Board and allow for the prompt consideration of other Board nominees.
  Mr. Quarles has a wealth of government and private-sector experience 
dealing with both domestic and international financial markets. In 
addition to his current service on the Board, his government experience 
includes serving in multiple top posts in the Treasury Department.
  Currently, only three of the seven available Board seats are filled, 
and several other nominees to the Board await confirmation. I have 
appreciated the important work carried out by Mr. Quarles at the Board 
thus far, including his role in developing regulatory and supervisory 
policy for the Federal Reserve System.
  Some are arguing today he is responsible for the housing crisis. He 
wasn't on the Federal Reserve Board when the housing crisis occurred. 
Some have argued that he is trying to weaken stress tests. Yet today, 
in the face of that very argument, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve 
testified to the Banking Committee that the stress tests they applied 
this year, for which they are being criticized, are the strongest 
stress tests they have applied yet, and they have not given anybody a 
pass. In fact, those who did not completely pass the test are still 
required to maintain their capital requirements as they were last year.

[[Page S4983]]

  If confirmed, I am confident Mr. Quarles' experience and skill will 
continue to be effective in terms of helping the Board promote the 
effective operation of the U.S. economy and serving the public 
interest.
  He has previously received, as I said, bipartisan support, being 
confirmed last year as Vice Chairman by voice vote, and as a Board 
member by a vote of 65 to 32. Earlier today, the Senate's cloture vote 
on Mr. Quarles' nomination was 66 to 33--yet again another indication 
of strong bipartisan support for this nomination.
  I urge all my colleagues to support Mr. Quarles' nomination today and 
vote for his confirmation.
  I yield my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all time is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Quarles 
nomination?
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 66, nays 33, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 158 Ex.]

                                YEAS--66

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--33

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--1

       
     McCain
       
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the President 
will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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