[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4206]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           RASKIN NOMINATION

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, shortly we will be voting on some 
nominees, and I want to thank all the nominees and their families for 
their willingness to serve the public. This is a real sacrifice. People 
are giving up other opportunities in order to serve their country. It 
is not just the individual who accepts these positions of public 
service, it is a family matter, and so I applaud them all for their 
service to our country.
  I would like to speak in particular about the last vote we will have 
in this series, and that is the confirmation of Sarah Bloom Raskin as 
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Sarah is a person who has given much 
to public service throughout her career. I know her personally. She is 
a Marylander, and we are very proud of the fact she is a Marylander.
  If Sarah is confirmed, she will be the highest ranking woman in the 
history of the Treasury, and I am very proud of that accomplishment. 
She has been very active in Maryland and at the national level. For the 
past several years Sarah has served on the Federal Reserve Board of 
Governors. Her deep financial and regulatory knowledge and sound 
judgment made her an essential asset during her tenure there. As the 
Presiding Officer knows, this has been a very turbulent time in regard 
to the economy of our Nation, and during this great economic unease her 
dedication to strong consumer protections has been especially valuable.
  Even before joining the Board of Governors, Sarah was no stranger to 
successfully navigating choppy economic waters. In 2007 she was 
appointed Commissioner of Financial Regulation for the State of 
Maryland, so I have had the chance to observe her and her dedication 
and her effectiveness at the State level and also at the national 
level.
  At the State level she has significantly improved consumer 
protections and supported banks through the many challenges of the 
financial crisis. That is where I got to see her work firsthand and her 
thoughtfulness and how dedicated she was, and her ability to bring 
people of different persuasions together, different stakeholders in our 
financial community, and to chart a course where we could have a 
positive result not only for the financial institutions but for 
consumers and for our economy.
  Sarah is also part of a family of government service. Her husband 
Jamie is a member of the Maryland State Senate and has an excellent 
record of public service in his own right. So this is a family that has 
given much to public service. We need people in the administration like 
Sarah Bloom Raskin. Her background, her education, and her job training 
all serve to make her particularly well suited to be the deputy 
secretary.
  I, for one, am thankful to Sarah and her family that she is willing 
to serve in an extremely challenging position. This is not going to be 
an easy position, obviously, as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. It 
gives me great confidence to know Sarah will be handling the many 
responsibilities demanded of the deputy secretary, and it gives me 
great pride that a fellow Marylander may continue to be among the 
financial leaders who guide our economy toward our future growth and 
stability.
  I urge my colleagues to support her confirmation. We are indeed 
fortunate to have a person of her skills willing to serve as Deputy 
Secretary of the Treasury.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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