[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12996-12997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CORDRAY NOMINATION

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of Rich 
Cordray's

[[Page 12997]]

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.

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