As the Senate takes up the nomination of Richard Cordray to a full term as Director of the CFPB, 43 Senators are threatening to block a confirmation vote unless supporters of consumer protection agree to major, weakening changes in the governance and funding of this new agency. They are attempting to use the confirmation process, in other words, not to evaluate the nominee’s qualifications (which no one has questioned), but to extort legislative changes they could never hope to win directly. We call on the Senate to reject this outrageous tactic and bring Richard Cordray’s nomination to a swift up-or-down vote.

Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
“The AFL-CIO strongly supports the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mr. Cordray has successfully led the Bureau through its creation and initial rulemakings but much remains to be done to fully realize its potential to protect consumers from unfair banking and lending practices. We sincerely hope Republicans will drop their super-partisan efforts to block his appointment.”

Wade Henderson, President, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
“Wall Street has learned that it can co-exist with Director Cordray, and Senate Republicans should join them. Under his leadership, the CFPB has not abused its powers, has not harmed the markets, and has not shunned Congressional oversight. Opposition to Cordray is just another attempt to weaken the bureau’s mandate and undermine its effectiveness. The housing crisis resulted in the largest exodus of wealth ever recorded in Latino and African-American communities. Keeping Director Cordray in his role will ensure that a steady and thoughtful problem solver continues to regulate these industries and allow communities to rebuild assets.”

James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
“We urge you stand up for consumers by bringing Richard Cordray’s nomination to a swift and unconditional vote. The Teamsters Union strongly supported the Dodd-Frank Act, including the creation of a strong and independent CFPB. For Teamster members who have been the victim of predatory lending practices, the CFPB means that somebody will be on their side, protecting them from the kind of financial practices which led to the loss of innumerable homes and personal savings, and directly contributed to the financial meltdown. Under Director Cordray’s leadership, the CFPB has proved to be an open, accessible, thoughtful, and effective agency.”

Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America
“A majority of Congress voted to establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Now a minority of the US Senate wants to hold hostage the confirmation of its director, Richard Cordray, in order to undercut the mandate of the Bureau. This nation was almost brought to its knees because of predatory financial products peddled to unsuspecting consumers—this cannot happen again. We need a leader like Richard Cordray at the CFPB and we need a US Senate that votes the President’s nominees up or down, based on majority rule, in a timely manner.”

Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy
“The CFPB was created to, among other things, solve financial service problems unique to our communities. Rich Cordray has a proven track record of providing the CFPB with the leadership and the direction it needs to serve as a watchdog against unsustainable, exploitative lending and to advocate for American consumers everywhere, and to watch out for racial and ethnic minorities who for years have been the victims of reckless, unscrupulous predatory lenders. Rich Cordray is a proven champion for the unbanked, the underbanked, and for every American who dreams of building wealth and economic security through honesty and hard work.  The United States Senate should confirm him to serve as the Bureau’s first permanent Director so that he can continue to advance the CFPB’s mission of protecting American families everywhere.“

John Arensmeyer, Chief Executive, Small Business Majority
Letter to the Editor, New York Times: “Lawmakers’ efforts to gut the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and weaken critical reforms protecting small businesses and consumers are, quite simply, shameful.

“Entrepreneurs hammered by the recession and predatory lending practices are thrilled to have the consumer bureau in their corner. Scientific opinion polling that Small Business Majority released last month found that 84 percent of owners support the consumer bureau and say it’s needed to ensure that they’re treated fairly. And 60 percent support maintaining the bureau’s independent financing so that lobbyists can’t undermine its mission.

“The financial industry wrote its own rules for too long. Honesty and transparency are not too much to ask from institutions that helped run the economy into the ground. Lawmakers — many of whom talk a lot about protecting small businesses — should be first in line asking for more accountability.“

Stephen Brobeck, Executive Director, Consumer Federation of America (CFA):
“Under Director Cordray’s leadership, the CFPB has carried out a deliberate, transparent and fully accountable effort to hold credit card lenders, mortgage companies, and other financial service providers to new higher standards of conduct. In the interest of protecting consumers from abuse and ensuring a fair and consistent financial services regulatory environment, CFA urges his immediate confirmation to a full term as director of the CFPB.”

Michael Calhoun, President, Canter for Responsible Lending (CRL)
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has struck an important balance between improving key consumer protections and preserving access to credit and financial services. Its work is benefitting American families, responsible lenders, and the overall economy. This important work should continue without the disruption of an unnecessary leadership change.”

Ira Rheingold, Executive Director, National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA)
“Director Cordray has proven to be a thoughtful and intelligent leader moving the Bureau in the right direction toward creating a fair marketplace for consumers.  He has earned the right to have an up and down vote on his qualifications in the Senate to continue to serve as the CFPB’s Director.”

John Taylor, President, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
“Richard Cordray has done an outstanding job as CFPB Director, and we urge the Senate to confirm his nomination. Under his excellent leadership, the agency has established itself as a strong and effective regulator that looks out for the interests of consumers. From the CFPB’s enforcement action against Capital One for deceptive and abusive credit card practices, to the many new protections and accountability mechanisms the agency has implemented, they have accomplished a lot over the last year. The Senate should confirm his nomination promptly so that he can continue that work.”

Lauren Asher, President, The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)
“On behalf of students and families struggling to pay for higher education and training and repay student loans, The Institute for College Access and & Success (TICAS) strongly supports confirming Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and opposes structural changes that would undermine the agency’s independence and effectiveness.  Under Director Cordray’s strong and principled leadership, the CFPB is providing American consumers, including student loan borrowers and their families, with crucial information, assistance, and protection from unfair and deceptive lending practices.”

Shanna L. Smith, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA):
“It’s important the CFPB provide protections for millions of homeowners who have been the victims of our nation’s foreclosure crisis, a tragedy that has resulted in a quarter of African-American and Latino homeowners losing their homes or being seriously delinquent on their mortgage payment. Lenders steered borrowers of color into unsustainable higher cost loans and now we need Mr. Cordray to effectively and fairly enforce the rules of the road.”

Ken McEldowney, Executive Director, Consumer Action:
“It’s high time for Congress to confirm Richard Cordray. From the day the CFPB opened its doors, it has been a fair and responsible regulator of consumer financial services laws, setting a high standard for transparency and the curbing of unfair and deceptive practices in consumer financial products. The CFPB deserves a confirmed director now, then Congress can turn its attention to some of our nation’s most pressing needs and stop wasting taxpayer time and money trying to settle old scores.”

George Goehl, Executive Director, National People’s Action (NPA)
“While Senate Republicans are once again threatening to block the confirmation of Richard Cordray, it’s not too late for them to back away from this shameful act and classic example of Washington at its worst. Cordray is highly qualified for the position, and any plans to block his confirmation are purely ideological. The CFPB is hugely popular with regular families and no wonder, as it is the first financial regulator tasked with the bottom line of consumers, and not the banks, Wall Street mega-corporations and predatory lenders. Consumers across this country can ill-afford further delay in Washington on this vital appointment. We urge the Senate to act immediately and move forward to confirm Cordray.”

David Borris, owner, Hel’s Kitchen Catering, Northbrook, Illinois, and Member, Main Street Alliance Executive Committee
“For too long, Wall Street banks and the financial industry wrote their own rules while no one was looking out for small businesses and consumers.  Finally, in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we have an agency with the dedicated purpose of protecting people on Main Street from unfair and predatory banking and lending practices.   Richard Cordray has done an excellent job leading the Bureau’s initial formation, but there remains important work to do to ensure that small businesses and consumers have an effective ally in our corner.  Small businesses are not served by partisan maneuvers to block confirmation of Director Cordray, which are designed simply to extract demands that weaken the Bureau’s effectiveness.”

Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen
“There’s not really dispute in Congress that Richard Cordray is qualified to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. His nomination is being delayed – as it was previously – because some in Congress want to alter the CFPB’s structure. That’s a bad idea, but if senators want to weaken the agency, they should support legislation to do so. In the meantime, they should stop blocking the Cordray nomination. Creation of the CFPB is the signature achievement of the legislative response to the worst financial crisis in the last 70 years, and consumers need the agency to function under strong leadership.”

Mark Seifert, Executive Director, Empowering and Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP)
“The last year has shown the nation what ESOP has known all along, that Richard Cordray works in a fair, transparent professional way to protect American consumers while balancing the needs of responsible players in the financial industry.  All the negative predictions about how the CFPB would hurt the industry have not come true.  It’s time to stop coming up with bogus excuses to block this nomination and the work of the bureau.”

Lisa Donner, Executive Director, Americans for Financial Reform
“The CFPB was created to establish and enforce fair rules of the road for the consumer financial marketplace. Under Richard Cordray’s leadership, it has ably begun to fill that crucial mission. We urge all Senators to support his nomination, and at the very least to bring it to a swift up or down vote. Blocking a vote is tantamount to taking a stand against consumer protection and giving comfort to the most abusive players in the financial services industry. Unfair banking and lending practices helped bring on the financial crisis and the economic free-fall that followed. For the economy’s sake as well as the sake of financial consumers – which is all of us – the country needs a fully functioning CFPB, with a confirmed director.”