WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after President Barack Obama announced his intention to use his executive power to name former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Banking Committee who helped create the CFPB, issued the following statement:

“Americans deserve strong and effective consumer protection.  Every year, hard-working families lose billions of dollars to deceptive financial practices, like hidden fees and predatory lending. 

“Only with a full-time Director can the CFPB help ensure consumers and taxpayers are protected from abusive financial products.

“No one disputes Richard Cordray is highly qualified to lead this agency.  Republicans don’t oppose Mr. Cordray on substantive grounds, they just wanted to quietly kill the new consumer watchdog.  President Obama isn’t going to let that happen.  The President has a responsibility to protect the American people and he is appropriately fulfilling that obligation.

“Americans can no longer afford the endless obstructionism that has recently become all too common in Washington.  For too long, consumers have been left vulnerable while partisan stonewalling prevented action.

“It has been nearly 50 years since President John F. Kennedy made consumer protection a national priority and sought to ensure consumers have basic rights to safety, to information, to choose, and to be heard.

“Today, with the appointment of Mr. Cordray to lead the CFPB, America is fulfilling that promise and providing consumers a powerful new tool to help them assert their rights.”