Reps. Speier, DeLauro, Senator Sanders Stand in Support of Elizabeth Warren to Head New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Washington, DC—Representatives Jackie Speier (CA-12) and Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and other members today to voice their support Professor Elizabeth Warren to be appointed Director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and originally conceived by Professor Warren, will act as a consumer financial protection body for the American people. Modeled after the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the new bureau will establish guidelines for consumer disclosure, collect and report data about different financial products, review new financial products, and require changes to products that are deemed dangerous before they can be marketed. As Professor Warren noted in 2007, consumers can't buy a toaster that has a one in five chance of bursting into flames, but they can enter into a mortgage that has the same one in five chance of putting them out on the street.

In order to ensure that the mission of this bureau, to protect American consumers, will be fulfilled, a strong advocate is needed at its helm. As Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and a nationally recognized expert on economics, Professor Warren has worked with American families as our country emerges from the financial crisis. She understands the challenges our nation is facing still, and will bring her hands-on approach to this new bureau, ensuring that our citizens will have the same consumer protections when buying a house as they do when purchasing everyday household items.

"It's extremely important that the first person to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau be a bold, effective communicator who embodies reform and can chart its course during this critical stage," said Congresswoman Speier. "No one is better equipped to lead this endeavor than Elizabeth Warren. She conceived the idea, fought tirelessly for its creation, and she is by far the most qualified person to run it. I strongly urge President Obama to appoint her immediately."

"Never content with the conventional wisdom, Warren digs deeper, and she exposed what the leading financial leaders missed. For the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be successful, we need a smart, tough-minded leader who understands the business at hand to restore the transparency and accountability that will enable businesses, and our economy, to thrive," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "I strongly encourage the administration to support Professor Warren to be the first Director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. To my mind, she is indispensable to the firm establishment of a real regulatory regime, one that will no longer countenance the greed and excess that forced us to act."

Senator Sanders said, "At a time when doubts about Wall Street and its practices are very deep, at a time when many Americans believe that we have not acted as aggressively and rapidly as we might have in limiting Wall Street recklessness and greed, American consumers need a federal government that is looking after their best interests. We need a strong director who will help convince the many millions of Americans who currently do not trust government that we are serious about standing up to Wall Street and providing the consumer protection they need.  This will not be a job for the faint-hearted. Elizabeth Warren has a strong reputation for looking out for the American people and for American taxpayers.  She is as a champion of open, honest and responsive government.  No one in our nation could do a better job as the first director of the financial consumer protection bureau."