WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today voted against the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and again urged the Obama Administration to consider his legislation to bring necessary structural reforms to the Bureau.

My colleagues and I stand by our pledge that no nominee to head the CFPB will be confirmed by the U.S. Senate – regardless of party affiliation – without basic changes to the Bureau’s structure. My request is not radical; I am simply asking that we increase accountability at the CFPB by restoring the commonsense structure that President Obama originally proposed for the bureaucracy. It is unfortunate we find ourselves in this position, but I remain hopeful that the Administration will act in the best interests of consumers."

Sen. Moran, along with 43 of his Senate colleagues, sent a letter to President Obama on May 5, 2011, calling for the Bureau’s leadership structure to be strengthened and made accountable to the American people. The letter stated that no nominee to be Director of the CFPB would be confirmed absent the structural changes requested. The Administration did not respond to the letter, and two months later moved forward with the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the Bureau’s first director.

Sen. Moran has introduced legislation to reform the structure of the CFPB. The Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2011, S. 737, would replace the single CFPB Director with a Commission – the same structure President Obama originally proposed for the CFPB in his June 2009 draft language.

Click here to view the full text of S. 737, the Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2011.