Memphis Mayor AC Wharton Urges Sens. Corker, Alexander to Confirm Cordray

This week, the U.S. Senate is expected to hold a vote on the nomination of Richard Cordray to serve as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Ahead of the vote, Memphis Mayor AC Wharton released the following statement:

I urge Senator Bob Corker and Senator Lamar Alexander to join with middle-class families and responsible financial institutions across Tennessee in supporting the confirmation of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to lead the new Consumer Financial Protections Bureau (CFPB.)

 

Tennessee’s current laws and regulations leave our families uniquely vulnerable to predatory lending practices by title-loan establishments, check-cashers, and other kinds of businesses that take advantage of those on the lowest rungs of society’s economic ladder. President Obama established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to look out for the best interests of these Americans. The President knows that nothing is more important to America’s future than the success and strength of America’s cities. While unemployment remains high and irresponsible lending and banking remains rampant in cities like Memphis, we have a lot of work to do to bring our economy back to full health. We need the CFPB’s help to get our economy back on track, and to make sure that appropriate forms of credit are available again to responsible to homeowners and small business owners in our neighborhoods.

 

Attorney General Richard Cordray will lead the CFPB with wisdom and fairness, drawing on years of successful experience holding banks to account and seeking justice for middle-class Americans. Tennessee’s families and communities are well served by the creation of CFPB, and we are counting on General Cordray’s leadership and dedication to advance its critical mission.

 

At Mr. Cordray’s confirmation hearing this week, Senators Corker and Alexander should support his nomination so that the CFPB can move forward. Blocking its progress undermines consumer protection and enables financial industry special interests to keep harming families and decimating neighborhoods throughout Memphis and across Tennessee.

via Richard Cordray and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.