Political Quotes

“I rise today in opposition to the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Earlier this year, I and 44 of my colleagues sent a letter to the President expressing our concerns with the unaccountable structure of the Bureau. It is now 7 months later and the President has yet to respond. The majority has called for a vote they know will fail today. It is evident the White House and the majority have decided to place politics ahead of good policy. They have chosen to fabricate a political issue rather than do what is in the best interests of consumers. Nonetheless, they claim this debate is about consumer protection. There is no disagreement, however, that consumer protection, as the Acting President pro tempore knows, needs to be enhanced. The only real point of contention is whether the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will be accountable to the American people. If we believe regulators never fail, then the current structure of the Bureau is just fine. Yet we all know regulators do fail and their failures harm consumers. Members of the majority, I believe, have repeatedly made this point with their criticism of the Fed's failure to regulate subprime mortgages and the OCC's preemption of State consumer protection laws. I strongly agree with the majority that our regulators failed to do their jobs in the lead-up to the financial crisis.…”