Civil Rights Coalition Calls for Nomination of Elizabeth Warren to Head New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights today urged
President Barack Obama to nominate Professor Elizabeth Warren to serve as
the first director of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB).

In
a
letter to Obama, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership
Conference, and Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership
Conference, write that:

We believe that the clear and best
choice to be this first director is Elizabeth Warren. She has the
requisite knowledge, experience, stature, and commitment to maximize the CFPB’s
effectiveness. At the same time, she has a demonstrated appreciation for the
value of a well- functioning financial market. She recognizes that the nation’s
prosperity – both in the aggregate, and for individual small businesses,
homeowners, consumers, and others – is dependent on a thriving and healthy
industry.

Warren
played a lead role in developing the idea for a CFPB to protect the interests
of individual small businesses, homeowners, consumers.

In
the face of vows by Senate Republicans to block the nomination of any CFPB
director, The Leadership Conference encourages the president to appoint
Professor Warren during the next Congressional recess.

The
CFPB was among key reforms sought by The Leadership Conference and its
coalition partners during negotiations for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act enacted in 2010.