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

June 14, 2011 - Posted by Ron Bigler

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.