On the recordDecember 7, 2011
I rise today to strongly support Richard Cordray, the President's nominee to be Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Three years ago our economy was tumbling into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. In the fall of 2008, the stock market was plummeting, unemployment was skyrocketing, and there were daily reports of yet another financial institution crumbling. Our economy was in a chaotic tailspin. That was only 3 years ago. Today we are in a slow and tenuous recovery. Unemployment is still way too high. Millions of Americans are out of work and have been for some time. Long-term unemployment is staggeringly high. Retirement accounts are still reeling. Yet in the Halls of Congress we are dominated by discussions of our Nation's debt and deficit. In fact, we are doing little else. These discussions are necessary. We need to tackle our deficits and our long-term debt. But as we do, we shouldn't lose sight of how we got here. The lessons we learned in the aftermath of the 2008 crash shouldn't be so quickly forgotten. The crash of 2008 was driven in no small part by unfair practices in the mortgage industry which led to many consumers being trapped in loans they didn't understand and couldn't afford. It should come as no surprise that this was as a result of increasing deregulation of the banking industry. So in response, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.…
