Rep. Gutierrez's Remarks at Press Conference Calling for Confirmation in Senate of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director-Designate Richard Cordray

Press Conference

The press conference was organized by the Tri-Caucus (Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus) and was attended by:

* Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA (Ranking Member, Financial Services Committee - FSC),
* Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA (Ranking Member, FSC Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises)
* Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, D-IL (Ranking Member, FSC Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity)
* Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC
* Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-NY
* Rep. Al Green, D-TX
* Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-TX
* Rep. Joe Baca, D-CA; and
* Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Charlie Gonzalez, D-TX

Rep: Gutierrez's Remarks:

I fought hard alongside Chairman Frank to create an agency that would put the needs of American consumers ahead of American bankers, loans sharks, and corporate interests. We fought hard because we think there is an imbalance of power and that the government, when all the power is tilted to the money-lender or the banking industry and against the consumer and the homeowners and the family, that the government can help level the playing field so that the economy moves forward and nobody is getting ripped-off.

You all saw: The lobbyists lined the halls of Congress when we passed the bill in committee, when we passed it on the floor of the House and when we rolled up our sleeves and negotiated on the final bill in front of your cameras at the conference committee.

But despite the lobbyists, we were able to create a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and now we need a strong and independent leader to run it. Those corporate lobbyists are back and my sense is that Republicans in the Senate have no objections to the specific nominee, Richard Cordray, who is clearly qualified. What the lobbyists and the Republicans still object to is the agency -- the CFPB -- and its mission to put American consumers first. Let me be clear, the CFPB cannot fully complete its mission, as mandated by the law, without its Director.

When a member of our armed services is fighting in a war and supporting his or her family at home, they deserve to know that their government is backing them up by making sure their home isn't getting foreclosed on.

Families that are struggling to keep their homes, pay for college, and pay off a car note loans deserve basic government oversight so that they are not getting ripped off by financial institutions that are preying on them precisely because they are economically vulnerable -- preying on the fact that so many families are living pay check to pay check if they are lucky enough to have a pay check at all.

I am particularly proud of a piece of the Dodd-Frank bill that I originated and that Chairman Frank, if I can call him that, and all of my colleagues here supported and that is the disclosure requirements for international wire transfers or remittances. We have millions of immigrants and the children of immigrants who are part of extended families that stretch back across borders and oceans. With the CFPB, now they will have a sense for how much they are being charged when they send part of their paycheck back home to a family, wife, child, or parent. Before Dodd-Frank, the fees they were charged and the money that fell out of their accounts as it traveled to family back home was a mystery.

But the ability to implement this provision of the law -- this minimum standard of transparency -- just like all the other necessary aspects of the bill we passed and which President Obama signed, relies on a Director to lead the agency.

Make no mistake; if Republicans continue to drag their feet on approving Richard Cordray as Director of CFPB, they are doing so because they don't want anybody looking over the shoulders of their friends in the banking industry when they are taking money out of your pocket.

It is that simple.

For our Spanish speaking audience I want to give you a few lines in Spanish…

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