Another Landmark Accomplishment by the President

Today President Obama appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I applaud the President's leadership and his executive action to appoint a consumer watchdog for the American people. American families will now have someone protecting them from the abuses of the financial industry and the egregious practices of predatory lenders. The Republicans may not think a consumer watchdog is needed, but I firmly believe President Obama's action is another important step to strengthen our economy and safeguard hard working Americans.

Thank you to Senator Chris Dodd, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, all the members of Congress who supported the legislation creating the consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and of course President Barack Obama. We never backed down when the going got rough. This is yet another landmark accomplishment by the President for Texas and the American people.

For more information on Richard Cordray and backgroun on this appointment please see the New York Times article below or click here.


The New York Times--Times Topics, January 4, 2012
Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, was picked by President Obama in July 2011 to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, passing over Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who was the driving force behind the agency's creation.

In December, his nomination received a majority of votes but was blocked by a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate. On Jan. 4, 2012, Mr. Obama said that he had used a recess appointment to put Mr. Cordray into the position.

Mr. Obama's exercise of constitutional powers to name top officials without Senate confirmation while Congress is in recess was a stiff challenge to Republicans, who had attempted to block the maneuver by holding "pro forma" sessions over the holidays.

Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation that created the bureau, the agency cannot write new rules or supervise other financial companies without a permanent director.

Mr. Cordray came to national attention for his aggressive investigations of mortgage foreclosure practices while he was the Ohio attorney general. Before being nominated to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he was the leader of its enforcement division.

During confirmation hearings in September 2011, Mr. Cordray told the Senate Banking Committee that he would make it a priority "to streamline and cut back" a mountain of regulations that has grown over the last 30 years, which he said excessively burdened some banks and discouraged them from lending money to consumers. He said that if confirmed, he would use the agency's "bigger and more flexible toolbox" to police consumer financial laws and would make judicious use of "needlessly acrimonious" lawsuits to enforce financial regulations.

With those statements and others, Mr. Cordray sought to reassure the committee that he, and the bureau, would be accountable to Congress, despite the significant doubts expressed by Republicans and lobbying groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, that the bureau has too much unfettered power.

But committee Republicans repeated their assertions — made since the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law establishing the bureau was signed in July 2010 — that it and its director would wield unchecked authority over banks and other financial institutions.

Political realities were largely behind the Obama administration's decision not to battle for the confirmation of Ms. Warren, who conceived the bureau, championed its creation and orchestrated its establishment as a White House adviser. Although her candidacy was passionately supported by liberal members of Congress and consumer advocacy groups, she never won the full support of the president or his senior advisers, particularly the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, in part because of her independent streak and her outspokenness, which at times put her at odds with the administration.

Republicans made it clear that they were no more likely to confirm Mr. Cordray than Ms. Warren. Forty-four Republican senators signed a letter saying they would refuse to vote on any nominee to lead the bureau, demanding instead that the agency replace a single leader with a board of directors.

Mr. Cordray joined the consumer bureau in December 2010 after narrowly losing a re-election bid for Ohio attorney general to Mike DeWine, a Republican who suggested during the campaign that Mr. Cordray was antibusiness.

Mr. Cordray, who was born in Grove City, Ohio, first reached Washington as a Supreme Court clerk after studying at Michigan State University, at Oxford as a Marshall Scholar and at the University of Chicago Law School. He returned to Ohio to start a political career as a state representative, but was forced from office by redistricting after one term. He then served as state solicitor, arguing several cases before the Supreme Court.

After more than a decade in private practice and local political office, Mr. Cordray won a special election in 2008 to become Ohio's attorney general and soon started a series of prominent investigations of financial companies. He accused the insurance company Marsh & McLennan of publishing fictitious quotes to suppress competition. He accused credit rating agencies of overstating the value of mortgage-backed securities, which resulted in extensive losses for their investors, including Ohio pension funds. He accused Bank of America of acquiring Merrill Lynch without telling investors the full extent of the investment bank's problems.
The settlements he won totaled more than $2 billion.