[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 188 (Thursday, November 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The bill clerk read the nomination of Kathleen Laura Kraninger, of 
Ohio, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection for a 
term of five years.
  The Senator from Nevada.
  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, I rise to speak out in opposition to 
the nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as the Director of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
  The CFPB is a consumer's watchdog on Wall Street and the big banks. 
It was created in the aftermath of the financial crisis to protect 
Americans from predatory and abusive practices and ensure that 
financial institutions play by the rules.
  Since 2010, the CFPB has investigated and held accountable abusive 
student loan companies, predatory payday lenders, and fraudulent 
multinational corporations--just to name a few. It has also protected 
our Nation's veterans and Active-Duty servicemembers from targeted 
scams and illegal debt collection practices.
  The CFPB has secured over $12 billion in relief for Americans. Just 
this past April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Wells 
Fargo for creating millions of fake accounts, destroying credit scores, 
and forcing millions of customers to pay phony penalties and fees.
  The people at the CFPB work every single day to make the financial 
system safe and fair for hard-working families. We can't go back to the 
way things were before the CFPB was created. We can't go back to a time 
when there was no strong consumer advocates at the Federal level.
  I remember this time all too well. I was Nevada's attorney general 
when the markets crashed in 2008. The subprime mortgage crisis hit 
Nevada harder than any State in the country. We had the highest 
foreclosure rate in the Nation for 62 months straight.
  I worked to hold the big banks accountable for the damage they did to 
our State and to help people stay in their homes. Meanwhile, the 
Federal regulators were asleep at the wheel. They were letting the big 
banks write their own rules and defraud consumers until the markets 
came crashing down.
  The CFPB was designed to close the leadership gap at the Federal 
level, to stand up to predators like Wells Fargo, and protect the 
rights of American people. To ensure the CFPB continues its mission of 
looking out for consumers' best interests, we need strong leadership at 
the Agency. We need someone with the right experience, the right 
qualifications, and the right mindset. We need someone willing to stand 
up not only to bad actors in the financial industry but also to 
President Trump.
  The administration has already stripped critical enforcement powers 
away from the CFPB. It has repealed rules that govern predatory payday 
lenders and shut down an office that focuses on protecting students 
from abusive student loans. We can't afford to go any further down this 
path.
  President Trump's nominee for CFPB Director, Kathy Kraninger, is 
unqualified to lead this Agency. In her testimony before the Senate 
Banking Committee, on which I sit, she failed to demonstrate an 
understanding of the CFPB's core functions or even a willingness to 
uphold its central mission.
  Like many of President Trump's nominees, Kraninger seems handpicked 
to undermine the Agency's mission. She testified to this, and it 
appeared at the hearing that her main goal was to be a faithful 
disciple to Mick Mulvaney--the architect behind this administration's 
plan to destroy the CFPB from the inside out, and she will continue 
crippling its power that is essential to protecting American consumers.
  The next Director of the CFPB will be called upon to make a choice, 
to stand aside and allow powerful special interests to call the shots 
in our country's financial system or to fight for families who want a 
fair and affordable loan to buy a car, a home, or college education for 
their children or a bank account and credit card without costly fees or 
who are simply trying to make ends meet.
  Kathy Kraninger can't be relied upon to make the right choice, and 
she does not have my vote. I encourage my colleagues to vote against 
this nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.