[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 11476-11477]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          CORDRAY CONFIRMATION

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, in the years leading up to the financial 
crisis, the biggest banks and lenders created new ways to make record 
profits off of consumers. They made predatory loans to working-class 
families, created prepaid cards with exploitative fees, and gave out 
student loans to first-generation college students with interest rates 
sometimes as high as 20 percent.
  Today millions of consumers are still trying to recover from these 
unscrupulous practices while companies keep looking for new ways to 
increase their profits at the expense of these consumers. Congress 
created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect Americans 
from consumer fraud and abusive fees and products.
  I thank the Presiding Officer for her role in this before she came to 
the Senate.
  More than 700 days since its creation, American citizens are now just 
getting to vote for a consumer watchdog to head the organization. 
Because of the CFPB, consumers can now decipher credit card 
applications and have help correcting erroneous credit reports.
  Because of these successes, confirming Richard Cordray as the 
Director was right. We know where he stands. We know for whom he 
stands--as a strong advocate for consumers, families, and small 
businesses.
  No one doubted Richard Cordray's qualifications or temperament for 
the job. This is the first time in American history when one party 
refused to confirm a nominee because they didn't like the agency. A 
terrible precedent was being set. Thankfully a number of our colleagues 
understood--as we discussed last night--it was important to move past 
that.
  Richard Cordray served as Ohio's first State solicitor. He 
represented the U.S. Government before the Supreme Court. He has been 
elected the attorney general and State treasurer of Ohio. He has 
received bipartisan accolades and support from Ohio's business and 
consumer groups.
  Let me share a bit of a letter written by a Republican Member of 
Congress from my home State, Representative Steve Stivers.

       Rich has always proven himself hardworking, collaborative, 
     and pragmatic.
       If you take the time [. . .] to evaluate Rich's character 
     and disposition, you will find him to be an individual who 
     listens to your opinion and seeks mutually acceptable 
     solutions.

  Representative Stivers is right. Under Cordray's leadership, the 
Bureau has earned praise from industry and consumer groups alike for 
the rules it has come up with. It has already recovered millions of 
dollars for consumers

[[Page 11477]]

from credit card companies, credit repair companies, and others. That 
is why consumers won a victory today and should be happy that the 2-
year-long process that has prevented Richard Cordray from being 
considered has finally come to an end and we can now move forward.
  I thank the Presiding Officer.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam President, 3 years ago this week, 
the Senate passed the Wall Street reform act to address the historic 
instability of our financial system. Turmoil in our financial system 
had revealed that many Americans were trapped with financial products 
they did not fully understand, and that no Federal agency was looking 
out for consumers. This act created the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau--the first Federal agency tasked with putting consumers first--
and over the past 2 years, the Bureau has taken significant steps to 
improve the consumer experience in many parts of the financial 
marketplace.
  The Senate has taken a crucial step for consumers in confirming the 
first Director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray, to a 5-year term. I am 
glad that the Senate set aside partisan politics and allowed this vote 
on Mr. Cordray's merits to go forward. Mr. Cordray has done excellent 
work at the CFPB, first as its first head of enforcement, and as 
President Obama's first nominee to head the Bureau. I am confident that 
the CFPB will continue to flourish under Mr. Cordray's leadership.

                          ____________________